Mass Effect: Interloper
by M.B.Liddle
Summary: Follow the adventures of Michael Liddle as he quite literally falls into the ME universe. A self insert covering the events of the first entry of the series. Follows the story of the Normandy crew and more as they strive to save a changing galaxy.
1. Chapter 1: First Steps

Interloper: Chapter One

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><p>Interloper Relaunch dedicated to users MizDirected and Lachdannen. Without your tireless reviewing and valuable criticism, this rewrite would never have gotten off the ground.<p>

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><p>My feet crunched over the icy spot just past my house for the fifth time as I completed another lap of the short loop of road I called home. My dark house stood on the hill, just the same as when I had left it to begin my nighttime wander. I wasn't entirely sure why I had chosen to leave the warm confines on my bedroom to go jogging so close to midnight, though if I had to guess, it probably would have something to do with the last twenty six hours I had spent sequestered amongst piles of empty cans and crisp packets, eyes glued to the screen. Yeah, that might be it. I started on my sixth lap.<p>

_Mass Effect 3. _The thought rolled around my head. An hour in line the day before to pick it up. A day and a half of self-imposed isolation. And now, here I was, walking it off. My fingers tingled in the cold. I shoved them roughly into my pockets and plodded on. The sound of thunder rolled out of the cloudless sky. I looked about, expecting rain. The sky was clear, cloudless. Nothing between me and the twinkling sky. The thunder sounded again, this time closer. It was almost as if it was coming from just around the corner. I peered into the night, trying to sneak a view around the granite promontory up ahead. Nothing.

_On second thoughts perhaps I ought to head back._ I though. Curiosity, though, is often a stronger force than fear, and my feet shuffled forward almost of their own accord. _Perhaps just a look._ My heart stood still as I turned the corner. There, standing in the air just above the middle of the road, was a hole. A flat disk, a black so deep it almost seemed darker than the night sky above it. The edges were wreathed in livid purple. The hole boomed, the same echoing thunder crash I had heard before. In an instant, every hair on my body stood on edge as a thick buzzing filled my ears. I realized I had taken another step towards the thing just as the buzzing reached a peak. I tried to block it out, press my finger to my ears to stop the buzzing, but that just seemed to make it louder. The sound of thunder rang again and the world beneath my feet dropped into blackness. For a split second, the blackness burned a livid purple. I screwed my eyes closed against the violet assault and tried my best to plug my ears against the sounds of a hundred buzzing bees. It did little good, the sound seemed to emanate from somewhere in the back of my skull.

Then, as quickly as it started, the buzzing stopped, the light turned to dark. Gravity regained its hold, pressing my back to the surprisingly soft and springy surface of the pavement. Somewhere, muted by distance, a rhythmic thumping carried over the still air. I cracked an eye open and caught a shaft of dim sunlight. I winced and rubbed at my tired, sore eyes. _Have I been lying here all night?_ I unsteadily pushed to my feet. My whole body ached. It felt worse than the time I'd gotten caught in an electric fence during my backpacking trip across Europe. My fingers splayed across oddly coloured grass.

I really looked around for the first time since I was grabbed by the … circle … Portal … thing. I definitely wasn't standing on my road anymore. In fact, I wasn't sure I was even on Earth anymore. From the burnt scarlet sky full of darkening clouds to the purplish grass that rose in thick and sharp looking thickets, everything felt wrong. And hot. I shrugged out of my thick winter jacket and tossed it over a nearby branch. I rubbed at my aching temples and let out a long, whistling breath.

_So, what is this?_ I struck up a conversation with the air, an old habit. _Definitely a dream, right?_ The air had few answers. I stamped my feet. The ground seemed solid beneath my feet. Succumbing to the cliché, I pinched myself. It hurt. _Not a dream? Or a particularly persistent one. I have just stayed up for almost three days; perhaps I just passed out in the road._ That thought stuck unpleasantly in my mind. I dismissed it and tried to come up with some other explanation. _Come on, Liddle, people don't just fall over and wake up somewhere completely different._

"Nothing for it, better start walking again," I said to no one. I picked a direction and set off into the brush. The chest high grass made every step a challenge as I pressed my way through this bizarre dreamland. The thick smell of the grassy fronds overwhelmed my nose with an acidic, alien smell. The distant thumping became louder as I drove on, and became more rapid, irregular. It was just as the tall undergrowth began to thin into what looked like a dirt path that a new smell arose. I could smell smoke. And not the pleasantly warm smell of the campfire, this was a thick, acrid smoke that spoke of flaming plastics and other, more caustic things. It scratched at my throat. I didn't have much time to contemplate the foul breeze, without warning, a harsh rattling sound rolled in from my left. I ducked instinctively; I'd spent enough time down at the old sandpit to recognize the staccato pattern of gunfire. My heart raced as I strained my ears. My eyes darted up and down the down, trying to peer between the stalks of grass in front of me. Further down the path, I heard the sounds of pounding boots, soon followed by voices.

"Jenkins, look out!" The voice instantly grabbed for my attention. The voice was not just familiar, I knew it well. I'd just spent the last two days listening to it. It was impossible, though. I tore back the long stands of rough grass. It was like walking into a memory, only it wasn't a memory I had ever lived, only seen on the screen of a computer. A figure dressed in black rushed headlong up a steep incline covered in rocks. He wore a rounded helmet that hid his face behind a thick visor, and he carried a strange curved rifle that I had seen before, though never in real life. My eyes snapped the other way. Thin, curved disks made of purple metal floated there, brandishing the barrels of what had to be weapons. It was exactly as I feared.

The man in black was Corporal Jenkins and he was about to die.

For a second, I was frozen, my mind reeling at the impossible images flowing in through my eyes. Fortunately, my legs suffered no such lockout. I was already running by the time my brain caught up with reality. I caught the running man in the side with a clumsy tackle. We both went down to the wet ground. Bright blue flashes of light passed through the air we had just exited, carrying behind them blinding trails and the sound of tearing cloth. I fell, sprawled across Jenkins as we both rolled on the ground. More flashes passed above us, this time from the other direction. Two piercing explosions rang in my ears.

I brushed sand from my face and looked across at the marine. It all fit; the black armour, the helmet, the collapsing rifle, even the tufts of blonde hair visible through the thin slit of his visor. "Are you okay?" I asked. The sound of my voice was tinny in my own ears. I shook my head to try to stop the ringing.

"Yeah, you?" he asked in return.

I nodded. The motion triggered a pang of pain in my side. I looked down and found a deep gash in my formally dark green t-shirt. I plucked at the curled, blackened edge. No blood, but my side looked weird, the scorched red of cooked lobster-level sunburn. I hissed as my fingers touched the blistered skin. "Close call, though." I tried to speak calmly, but my voice quavered as my nerves betrayed me. "Sorry, never been shot at before." Two more figures splashed across the sandy trail toward us. One of them, obviously female, hung back ad cocked her head as if listening to something. The man carried on, halting just in front of us.

"Jenkins?" the closest called, "You alright?"

"Yes sir, Lieutenant. This local pulled me out of the way." He inclined his head towards me.

I pushed myself out of the muck with shaky arms. _Lieutenant?_ More Proof. And the pain in my side was far too real to be a dream. I should have woken up by now.

"Did you hear me, kid? What's your name?"

I looked up and looked at the two men staring down at me. Their helmets hid their faces, but their eyes were still visible. Jenkins' eyes were wide and concerned, but his companion's were sharp, focused, suspicious.

"Michael. Michael Liddle," I blurted out without thinking. Sweat broke out across my forehead as the lieutenant's eyes narrowed. "I, uh…."

"Liddle. Good. Alright, Liddle, what were you doing out here? Are you from the colony?" the Lieutenant asked.

The question didn't sound directly accusatory, but my answer stuck in my throat. _If this wasn't a dream, and it was looking increasingly likely that it wasn't, then what was it? Because I couldn't possibly be inside my favourite video game, could I? And if I was?_

The lieutenant cut off my desperate internal ramblings with a curt clearing of the throat. Before I could speak up, my rescue came in the form of a voice I knew well. A female voice, strong and steady; it was instantly recognizable, even through the muddy haze of my confusion. Commander Shepard stepped up behind the Lieutenant who had to be Kaidan.

"Alenko, what's our status? We needed to be at the dig site, yesterday." She stopped as she saw me. "Who's the kid?"

"Says his name is Michael Liddle, ma'am," Alenko responded smartly. "We haven't been able to get much more out of him. You ask me, he seems to be in shock."

"He ran out of the bushes, Commander," Jenkins added eagerly. Now that he was out of danger, the younger man seemed to almost bounce on the balls of his feet. "Knocked me out of the way of those drones. Probably saved my life. Sir … Ma'am?"

Shepard looked me up and down with an appraising eye. "A local, right? Are you with the militia?"

I nodded vigorously. "Yes," I answered without thinking. _Who was going to tell them otherwise_. "What's going on?" The question was directed at the world as much as it was the man. Everything around me screamed Mass Effect, Eden Prime if I remembered right. And now, for some reason, I was standing on it. Maybe I'd simply gone mad. It wasn't too farfetched given my family's history. I pushed that unpleasant thought away and hauled myself to my feet.

"I'm afraid that's classified information, Militiaman," Shepard answered sternly. She turned to her team and started making motions without speaking. After Jenkins shook his head and pointed to me over her shoulder, she turned back. "My men and I have to move. The immediate area looks clear, so you should be safe going to ground and waiting for reinforcements. Find yourself somewhere to hide and don't come out until you get the all clear. And Militiaman," Shepard retracted her faceplate to reveal a hard face framed by bedraggled strands of fiery red hair. "Thank you for pulling Jenkins' ass out of the fire. I'll be sure to put you forward for a commendation with your unit commander once we beat this thing."

The helmet snapped closed, and the small team was off again. They moved cautiously up the trail and left me standing in the mud, alone but for the distant sound of the guns and the acrid smell rising off the now sparking geth combat drones. A fierce gust of wind blew hot air over the berm and across my face, but I felt a chill creep through me for the first time since falling into this strange world.

"So what do I do now?" I muttered, casting my eyes back across the way I had come. The thick foliage would certainly hide me well. Above that, whatever had dumped me into this mess might still be back there. But…. My eyes were drawn back up the path, where Shepard and her men had just crested the rise of the hill. _Heading off to into the fight with Saren. And the Reapers._ I looked out across towards the distance, where _Sovereign _rose into the darkened sky. The mere sight of the titanic space squid made my skin crawl and filled my ears once more with the sound of angry bees. I shivered as it occurred to me that he could likely crush me with a simple thought. I took a squelching step back towards the brush. Back where it was safe. Back where it was boring. I didn't give the brush another thought.

"Wait!" My cry caught the Marines just before they disappeared from view. Shepard spun sharply on her heel as I ran up to her, puffing and panting. "Wait," I puffed, leaning over heavily in a bid to catch my breath. "I you're going after the beacon, you're not going to find it at the dig site."

Shepard's demeanor changed within the space of a heartbeat. Her rifle whipped up and around, leveled at my chest. Kaidan's joined her just a second after, but Jenkins seemed to hesitate. His rifle remained at rest and he flicked his head back towards his commanding officer.

"How did you know about our mission? Start talking, right now. I don't have any more time for delays," Shepard said sharply. Her voice had hushed to almost a whisper.

"I … I …" This wasn't going the way I'd thought. Had to come up with something. "You were talking about the dig site before. The whole colony's talking about the prothean beacon they dug up there. I, uh, pulled a few shifts out and the spaceport. A bunch of the guys there said they were getting something big in from out here." _Yeah, that ought to do it._

Shepard didn't look entirely convinced, but she didn't look ready to fill me full of holes either. Her rifle lowered but she held her ready stance. "Kaidan, remind me to have a few words with Colonel Herrick about his operational security arrangements. Okay, kid. I assume you know how to get to this spaceport from here?"

I nodded dully. Shepard's eyes went from severe to questioning and I realized that I was still nodding. "Oh, yes. Yep, I can take you there from here. It's just past the dig site, past the next rise." I strained my memory, trying to remember the map of Eden Prime. From what I remembered, it was pretty linear. Although, now that I looked ahead, the planet seemed to stretch out in all directions, bereft of the stark barriers that had hemmed me in during gameplay. At least the path was still there, winding its way through a stand of oddly coloured trees up ahead.

"Alright, good," Shepard said. She pressed her fingers to her helmet, just above the ear, obviously activating her radio. "Ground party to _Normandy_, minor change of plans. According to one of the locals, the beacon's been moved to a nearby spaceport. He's offered to guide us in, but I want you on station and ready for pickup. You copy that, Nihlus?" After cocking her head, apparently getting a response she liked, she looked back to me. "Did they teach you to shoot in the militia, Liddle?"

"A little, I'm kind of new, to be honest," I said dishonestly. "Barrel goes towards the bad guy, right?"

"There'll be time for jokes later," Shepard snapped. She reached behind her back and snapped something from where it was clasped. She withdrew a bright red, bulky metal rectangle. "Here, take this for now. I'll be wanting that back once this is over."

"Yes, ma'am," I said, taking the object. The thing snapped open in my hand, revealing the blocky yet surprisingly light weight form of a wide barreled pistol. The gun fit my palm easily enough, but inwardly I groaned. I'd always gotten a less than stellar performance out of my father's Sig Sauer back home, much more comfortable with my own rifle. Not that twenty rounds of .22 would do me much good here. I tried to keep the disappointment from my face and pulled the heavy duty pistol up into what I thought was a decent ready stance.

"Corporal, keep our guide safe. Shooting breaks out; you make sure he gets into cover. Without barriers, those drones will rip right through him. Militiaman, try to keep out of the line of fire. What Corporal Jenkins says goes. I don't want any heroes dying on my watch today, you understand?" She shot a meaningful look at the Corporal. The both of us nodded in reply, Jenkins saluting smartly.

"Lead the way, Militiaman."

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><p>"Get down!"<p>

The cry shook me from my thoughts just in time to see the first flat disk of a geth drone to drop from the canopy of the strange glade. Before I could react, a rough hand at my back pulled me to the ground. I hit the soft earth with a whuff as the air was driven from my lungs. Hypersonic flakes of metal raked the air where I had just been standing, showering me with shredded bark as they bit deep into a nearby tree. Ignoring the stinging splinters, I managed to roll behind a thick knot of roots.

Around me, the Commander's squad returned fire, filling the small copse with the clattering of their curved assault rifles. I tried to peek up and over the roots, but the hand on my back pushed me back down. Jenkins gave me an apologetic look and shook his head. A near miss on the ground near my feet convinced me that he had the right of it.

_Damn, I forgot about this ambush._ I chided myself internally. Another round kicked up dirt just past the tip of my shoe, sending me shuffling deeper into the embrace of the tangled roots. The ground shook slightly as something exploded behind my hiding place. Something whirred up above. One of the drones had managed to get around the tree. We were exposed. A wordless croak escaped my lips and I raised my weapon. The handgun bucked in my hand as my finger pumped the trigger. My shots scattered wide, but the wild shooting managed to force the drone to swerve away from the team. I fired again, this time trying to aim carefully. The shot hit, albeit narrowly, gouging a glowing streak across the drone's convex lid. The drone plummeted, crashing into a tree and crumpling into a pile of wreckage. I let out a long held in breath and tried to still the shaking.

"Cease fire!" Shepard called, silencing the guns. Wisps of smoke rose over the newly silent battlefield as my new allies surveyed the field. "Coast is clear. Let's move people, if the enemy has drones in the area, odds are their scouts aren't too far behind!"

Then we were off again, Shepard leading and keeping up a brutal pace. I struggled to keep up as the humidity of the planet began to sap at my energy. That and the hilly terrain, and the fact that at this point I probably hadn't slept in a good eighteen hours. I almost regretted not crawling into those bushes and taking a nap. This strange world didn't give me a chance to dwell on it, though. Up ahead, the sound of gunfire flared up.

_Ashley_

"Let's move, people!" Commander Shepard ordered. The four of us sprinted down the path until we came across a clearing. I caught a flash of pink and white. A woman sat with her back to a rock, wearing a similar cut of armour to the team ahead of me, though it was primarily white with highlights rendered in a soft pink that looked out of place on the battlefield. She looked hurt. Two figures advanced on her position. They were short and stocky, each with a long flexible hood that extended from where a human head should rest. They too carried rifles, though of a different, more bulbous design. The edges of the rock that hid the wounded soldier began to glow from the volume of fire poured into it.

"Spread out, focus fire on the leading hostile!" Shepard had her assault rifle out and was already firing. The sudden storm of fire caught the machines off guard. The first one went down almost immediately. The second one froze for a second, as if trying to decide whether to continue going after Ashley or aim at the new threat. Kaidan didn't give it a chance to build a consensus, firing up his biotics and sending the Geth pin-wheeling into a rock. The platform's lights slowly died. I hadn't fired a single shot.

"Thanks Commander. Thought I was a goner for sure." The soldier's voice came out strained and shaky. She clutched at her side, where her dull white armour was stained by a much darker shade of red.

"Are you wounded, soldier?" Shepard asked.

"One of them got me pretty good. Nothing some medigel can't fix." Ashley had gotten shakily to her feet. "Who's the kid?"

'The Kid' must be referring to me.

"Says he's with the militia," Alenko said as he dosed the wounded soldier with the solution of pain meds and healing goo.

"I don't recognize you, are you with the Agrigroup?" she asked. She thanked the other soldier and seemed to stand taller, though she still favored her unwounded side.

"Yes Chief, but I haven't had contact with them since the attack started." She seemed to accept this. Probably didn't hurt that I had just addressed her by the correct rank.

"I'm Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, with the 212. We did some training with Agrigroup a while back. Colonel Herrick still in charge?"

"Yes ma'am." I replied, "At least he was this morning."

"The fighting's been pretty fierce, the rest of my unit's gone, the 232 was deployed just up by the spaceport, and I haven't heard from them either."

"What happened to your unit?" Shepard asked. Ashley began to explain the situation. I wasn't really paying attention, I already knew the details. The conversation gave me time to think, though, and that thinking gave doubts an opening to slip in through. If this _was_ real, and I wasn't mad or trapped in some hyper-real dream state, what did I plan to do? The thought of running back to the clearing I had arrived in began to feel all the more attractive. Maybe that portal or whatever it was still there, ready to take me back to somewhere that I wouldn't be shot at. Or maybe it wouldn't. Maybe I'd just curl up there and fall asleep, waking to find the world still sporting a burnt orange sky. But where would that leave me? Stranded on a broken colony with no identity and no way home.

The question hung in front of me. I shook my head, bidding the fear of never going home again to disappear. I'd follow Shepard; at least it would pass the time until I figured out what had happened to me. Maybe I'd even be able to make myself useful. That said, I still had very little knowledge of how this world actually worked. That was something that I could at least do something about. I walked over to where Jenkins stood.

"You ever seen action, Corporal?" I asked. He seemed to jump a little.

"No, this is my first, you?"

"Before today, I'd barely fired a gun." A half-truth, mass accelerators were altogether new to me, but I had spent as much time as I could cram into my schedule out at the sandpit down the road.

The corporal nodded. He scuffed his boot across the top of a metal box. A memory hit me.

"Hey Jenkins, pass me that crate." He looked at me quizzically but handed the crate over. "The militia left a few caches out here," I said as I pried the thing open. A jumbled suit of armour tumbled out into my arms. Unfolded, it looked like a wetsuit with a few molded plates covering the shoulders, legs, and stomach. The suit itself was a dusty black, while the plates sported a digital camouflage scheme.

"We, uh, didn't cover how use this in the militia." I lied lamely.

"Oh, it's easy." Jenkins said, "here, just hit this bit…"

Donning the armour was actually pretty simple. You kind of stepped into it and pulled it up until it fit snugly. Once I had zipped up, Jenkins hit a button on my belt. A burst of static electricity shot across the suit's surface.

"There, ready for battle." Jenkins seemed to have regained his gung-ho attitude. By now, Commander Shepard had finished debriefing Williams. They walked over, Kaidan taking up the rear.

"We just got word from Nihlus. He wants to meet us up at the spaceport. Are you ready to travel, Militiaman, Jenkins?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"Good, Jenkins, take point."

And we were off once more. Just before passing out of the clearing, I gave one last look back at the path that led back to where I had arrived. The long blades of grass waved limply in the hot breeze, offering no evidence of our passage. Shepard called from up ahead and I turned my back on the scene.


	2. Chapter 2: Integration

Interloper: Chapter 2

The Geth at the dig-site were brushed aside with little resistance, as were the husks. Shepard seemed to be in a hurry, not even checking the buildings of the research camp.

"What the hell is that?" Ashley yelled. In the distance the roiling epicenter of the crimson storm cloud that covered the sky cleared to reveal the massive form of sovereign, the steady buzzing that had been building in my head since we passed the dig site became so fierce I had to blink back tears.

"Whatever it is, it came from the by the spaceport." Kaidan said.

"Nihlus, come in Nihlus!" Shepard was yelling over the sound of the departing dreadnaught. "Something's very wrong here."

I couldn't help but agree. The spaceport looked utterly deserted, not even Geth moved about. As we approached, the situation looked grimmer. The small building that had hidden the farmers was blown open, the smuggler, Powell, was draped over the crates he had hidden behind. And sprawled out on the flaw…

"Nihlus!" Jenkins ran up to the broken Turian. The rest of the squad spread out and secured the landing strip. I hung back, expecting an ambush, or an attack. "He's dead." came the anguished confirmation. The sound of hurt caught me by surprise. The one conversation Shepard had with him in the game really didn't show just how strong his adoration of the Spectres was.

"Commander, the beacon was moved to the other side of the spaceport, there should be a tram around here." I spoke up. I was imagining a ticking timer on the bombs Saren must have just planted.

"Alenko, Williams, find and secure the tram. Liddle, Jenkins…" a burst of gunfire came from by the trams. We ran over, finding Ashley and Kaidan ducked behind a support. The massive form of a Geth Destroyer stood astride the tram, hosing down the station with fire. Our arrival distracted the platform long enough for Kaidan to toss it off the tram line with his biotics.

"Alright, everyone hold on." Shepard ordered, running a hand over the tram's control board. There was the brief orange glow of an omni-tool and the car shot off like a rocket.

The far station was a mess. The Geth had torn the place up pretty badly on their way out.

"Is that a bomb?" Ashley asked, pointing to a cylindrical object covered in Geth tubules. The object beeped, a display obviously ticking down.

"Spread out, this can't be the only one. Disable them, fast!" Since I didn't have any way to shut down a colony destroying bomb without being in danger of setting it off, I followed Jenkins down to where the beacon was being held.

_Still in one piece._ I was relieved.

"No bombs here." Jenkins confirmed, looking up at the beacon. "Is it supposed to do that?" the beacon was glowing green.

"It wasn't doing that when they brought it in." I said, filling in the appropriate dialogue_. I could get used to being an NPC I suppose. _I was about to warn him not to get to close when the beacon flared. Jenkins was being drawn towards it. In a panic, I looked back to where Shepard was still disarming one of the bombs. This was the part where she was supposed to rescue one of the crewmen. I waved and yelled, trying to gain her attention, but she was focused on the task of disarming the warhead. I looked back to Jenkins. He had almost reached the beacon.

_Here goes nothing._ I thought. I threw myself into the struggling corporal for the second time that day. I managed to throw him aside, but it was too late to tear myself free. I was lifted into the air. The buzzing drowned out everything, as if angry hornets had been released inside my head. Then the visions started. They were so much worse than the game could have prepared me for. Dully, I heard yelling below me. I didn't feel the beacon explode.

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><p>The world returned slowly. It started out as a hazy set of colours, but eventually sharpened until I was staring blankly at a metallic ceiling.<p>

"Dr. Chakwas, I think he's waking up." A grey-haired, older woman stood over me. She ran a pulsing orange light over my eyes.

"Michael? Michael, can you here my voice?" her tone was gentle yet professional. I tried to respond, but my voice caught in my throat. I simply nodded instead. My neck was pretty stiff too. "Well Mr. Liddle, you seem remarkably healthy for someone who's just been through what you've experienced. Whatever that beacon did to you wasn't meant to happen to a Human brain."

"How long?" I managed to croak.

"A whole week, I'm afraid. Someone with the standard augmentations I might have been able to bring around in a day, but medical scans revealed you didn't even have your standard colonial immunizations. I also recorded some immense peaks in beta wave activity, usually seen in those experiencing intense dreams."

_A whole week? Shepard was only out for 26 hours. I'm lucky to be alive._

"I saw, I don't know what I saw." I said honestly. While in theory I had just seen the Prothean extinction at the hand of the Reapers, in actuality the entire vision was a jumble of images, emotions, and sounds. Another figure walked up on the other side of me.

"So you're really gonna make it?" Jenkins asked. From what I could see, the young corporal's face was etched in concern.

"Yes, yes." Dr. Chakwas replied, "Mr. Jenkins here has barely left my sickbay since they dragged you on board."

"I wasn't left on the colony?" I asked. Of course Shepard was brought on board in the game, but she was Alliance military, as far as this crew was concerned, I was just some colonist.

"The Normandy was bar-none the best care facility on that planet." The doctor said with a touch of pride, "and besides, the Commander decided, ah, there you are Shepard, I was just about to call you down."

"I take it our patient is awake?" Shepard asked. I looked up at her and caught a glint of concern. It was a stark difference with the stern, commanding presence she had held on the ground.

"Present." I croaked again. My voice was a lot more confident this time. Dr. Chakwas placed a small cup of something on the tray by the bed. I downed the whole thing in one gulp. The liquid cooled my parched mouth and throat, and the ache in my head subsided.

"Liddle, this is Captain Anderson, my CO." A familiar face moved into view.

"That's a hell of a thing you did, soldier. There are marines who wouldn't have pulled such a stunt."

"Thank you?" I said hesitantly. The captain nodded, which I took as a sign that he had paid me a compliment. "Eden Prime?" I asked, trying o sound as concerned as possible.

"I'm afraid it's a bit of a mess right now. The colony got hit pretty hard. The hall of records is just gone, we can't even begin to account for the missing yet.

_How convenient_ I thought

"Listen, we need to know what you saw in that beacon." The captain's voice was firm, resolute. He fixed me with a strong stare.

"Captain, the boy needs rest after what his body's just gone through." Dr. Chakwas began to object.

"No, it's all right." I said, "I saw, at least I think I saw the Protheans. They had some kind of war. There were machines." I tried to remember what the visions had shown me. The images were so blurry, I wasn't even sure if they matched up with what I remembered from the game.

"These machines, did they have a name?"

"I think the Protheans called them… Reapers." The atmosphere grew cold.

"That proves it then, that's why Saren wants this Conduit, to bring back the Reapers." This caught me off guard. If they already knew about the Conduit.

"Who's Saren? What Conduit?" I asked.

Commander Shepard looked to her CO, who gave her the go ahead. "While you've been out, we've been docked at the Citadel. There's been an investigation going on about the Eden Prime attack. A quarian came forward with evidence that a Spectre named Saren lead the Geth in their attack, and that he was searching for something he called the Conduit. What you saw confirms that the Reapers are involved somehow."

"Shepard's been assigned by the Council to go after Saren." Anderson said. "I need you to brief the team, any information you gained from the beacon could be critical."

I nodded slowly, sitting up. I had apparently been fitted for an alliance uniform since being brought aboard.

"I think I can manage." That caught me a stern look from the doctor, but the captain's presence seemed to stay her hand. I got shakily to my feet. A week in bed hadn't done wonders, but everything seemed to work. "Lead on."

* * *

><p>The team filed into the ship's small comm. room. I recognized Tali and Garrus, who must have been the C-sec officer the quarian had approached, as well as Wrex, which meant that the altercation at Chora's Den must have happened. Alenko and Williams both took seats across from me, which meant they must be along for the ride too. I didn't see Jenkins anywhere, but he was just a grunt after all. Finally, Shepard and Anderson entered the room. Shepard called the room to attention, and introduced me.<p>

"This is Michael Liddle, of the Eden Prime Militia. He was the one who interacted with the Prothean beacon." All eyes fell on me. Wrex gave a derisive grunt. I stood slowly. "Michael, this is Tali'Zorah, who brought the evidence against Saren, and Detective Vakarian, her C-Sec contact."

"Former C-Sec contact." Garrus corrected, raising a clawed finger.

"Right, you've meet Lieutenant Alenko and Gunnery Chief Williams of course." The two Alliance soldiers nodded respectfully. "And this is Urdnot Wrex, a mercenary; we've acquired his services for the duration." Wrex didn't seem overly interested in the proceedings.

"Let's lay out everything we know." Anderson took center floor. "Saren Arterius has gone rogue, and has attacked the colony of Eden Prime. He has somehow gained the support of the Geth, and a major Asari Matriarch. He is searching for something called the 'Conduit.' What else do we know?"

"Well, we have at least a partial copy of whatever he gained from the Eden Prime beacon." Kaidan said, looking at me.

"I don't know if he got any more than I did," I began, "all I know is that I saw a war, and if that's what Saren wants to bring back, we have to stop him."

"Okay people, give me options." Commander Shepard said, steepling her fingers. She seemed a lot more out of her depth than she had in the game.

"We know he's working with the Geth," Kaidan noted, "We should be monitoring Alliance intel on any Geth incursions." Anderson nodded.

"We've been monitoring a lot of Geth interest in the Horse Head Nebula and the Attican Beta, especially our colonies of Feros and Noveria."

"Didn't the quarian's data implicate a Matriarch Benezia? I believe she has a daughter involved with Prothean archaeology. Could be a possible lead." Garrus said.

"'The Quarian' has a name." Tali haughtily interjected.

"He's right though, this daughter might be able to tell us what an Asari Matriarch is doing signing on with a rogue Spectre. I want to make this our first priority." Shepard said.

"It's your mission, Shepard, you're outside the usual chain of command now. Admiral Hackett will be keeping you informed of anything that comes up on our end."

"Thank you, Captain." Shepard saluted the older man smartly. Anderson returned the salute and left through the double doors. "Now, we have to deal with you, Liddle."

_Well that wasn't ominous at all._

"I'm not going to lie, I think you can be an asset. The images in your head are our best lead right now as to what Saren knows, and what he is trying to do. The problem is, Alliance regs don't allow for the impression of civilians."

"Commander, what about the Green to Blue Program?" Ashley asked, "With his militia background and some extra on-site training, there's a good chance we can transfer him straight into the crew."

"I don't think that would work. With the total data blackout from Eden Prime, the paperwork wouldn't even get off the ground." Kaidan said. The conversation seemed to flow around me, with options ranging from simply taking me and not telling anybody, to leaving me on the Citadel with a cheap apartment and an FTL radio. Finally, Garrus spoke up again.

"Commander, why not simply deputize him?" the room looked at the Turian. "Surely someone briefed you on your new powers as a Council Spectre. You have the authority to deputize assets in the pursuit of your mission, forcefully, if necessary." Commander Shepard seemed to consider this for a second.

"Michael Liddle, I officially name you my deputy, you will follow my commands and the commands of Alliance officers on this ship. Is that clear?" Here it was, the chance to join the famous Commander Shepard in her quest to save the galaxy.

"Clear, Commander." I said.

"Good, now report back to the Medbay, it looks like you're about to collapse." I gratefully made my way back towards the dim infirmary.


	3. Chapter 3: Introductions

Interloper: Chapter 3

That 'night' the beacon's images chased me around my own head. They were still the jumbled mess they were when I received them. I awoke to find myself alone in the quietly humming medbay. The buzzing had died away at least. The doors swished open. Shepard was standing in the doorway, framed by the dimmed lights of the mess. She was tall for a woman, almost reaching my own 6'3. Her hair hung loosely just below her ears, coppery in color. She had a shallow scar running just under her right eye.

"This a bad time?" she asked simply.

"No, couldn't sleep anyway." I replied. The Commander walked over to my bed. "bad dreams."

"Any clearer?" She asked. She stood at the foot of the bed with her arms crossed.

"Not really." I admitted, "I don't think whatever message was stored in that thing had humans in mind." She nodded. "If you don't mind me asking, Commander, is there something I can help you with?"

"Just getting to know my crew, Liddle. I actually wanted to assess your combat background. This isn't going to be an easy investigation, and that's before we even catch Saren. I need to know that every member of my crew is ready to fight."

"Alright Commander, what do you need to know?"

"You were in the militia, what did they cover? Corporal Jenkins is under the impression that you've only received sketchy marksmanship training, and that you needed help operating basic hardsuits."

"He'd be right, for the most part." I admitted. "Formally we didn't really receive much training at all. Most of my experience comes from shooting rifles with my dad."

"I'll get Gunnery Chief Williams to issue you a Lancer. The armour you brought with you was pretty much toast, so you'll need to get fitted with something from our stocks. Any other skills?" She didn't look very impressed.

"I can drive stick." I joked. That seemed to actually peak her interest.

"As in manual transmission? I wasn't aware they even made civilian vehicles in anything other than direct haptic interface."

"Oh yeah, we had this one antique… tractor. I used to practice on the weekends." I really had to work better on my cover ups.

"The only reason I ask is that the Normandy doesn't have a designated Mako driver. A lot of the grunts grew up with Haptics and aren't too comfortable with the thing's column and stick system. First chance we get I want you to try your hand at operating it."

"Sure thing, Commander." I say, hiding a yawn. "Um, what time is it?"

"Ship time? About 0300."

_Three in the morning? _"Isn't it a bit early for performance reviews?"

"That would be late, Deputy, can't sleep while the galaxy needs saving." She uncrossed her arms and turned to leave. "See you at breakfast."

* * *

><p>I woke up feeling almost refreshed. Whatever Chakwas was giving me must have been working overtime. The late night performance review and beacon dreams had left me a little groggy, but the pounding and buzzing was gone.<p>

"Ah, awake I see."

"Dr. Chakwas." I grabbed at the uniform that hung beside the bed. "I want to thank you, I feel much better now."

"I'm happy to hear that. Now, I have a few more tests to run before I release you. Please hold still, this won't take a second." She lowered one of the spindly arms that hung above my head until it sat about level with my head.

"No signs of permanent brain damage." She said with a small frown, "But I'm still getting some unusual brain wave patterns. Shouldn't cause any health issues, but I should like you to come in for a checkup every now and again." She pulled the instrument away. I started to get up. "One more thing, Deputy." There was a sharp sting on my shoulder. "That was the standard 'Omni-booster,' usually given to recruits and colonists before they even leave Earth. Somehow you seem to have avoided getting it." She fixed me with a critical eye."

"Thanks, I guess." I pulled the uniform up over the abused arm and rubbed at it.

"Now run along, I expect they will be serving up breakfast soon." I nodded and headed to the door. "And Deputy, I don't expect to have to patch you up again for a good while."

The mess was already busy, the tables full of eating crewmen. Up at the what I guessed was the Officer's table sat the Commander, along with Alenko and Navigator Pressly. Shepard and the lieutenant seemed to be discussing something.

_Probably his time in Brain Camp_.

I found an empty seat next to Jenkins. Breakfast seemed to consist of a thick blue paste and crumbly yellow squares.

"What's this supposed to be?" I asked as Jenkins passed me a tray of the squares.

"I think it's supposed to be the cornbread." A marine remarked from further down the table. I took a bite tentatively. Hopefully lunch would taste better.

"So is it true?" another marine asked, "You're the guy that messed up the beacon back on Eden Prime?" Just as I was about to answer, Jenkins came to my rescue.

"Hey, this guy saved my life twice down there; that makes him a hero in my book."

"If you say so corp." the marine eyed me.

"I do say so, Private." The marine gave a small snort and stood to leave.

"Whatever, I have to get to my duties." He scooped up his tray and walked away.

"Thanks, Jenkins."

"You saved my life, it's the least I could do. And call me Rick." The corporal gave me a friendly smile.

"Alright Rick, then call me Mike. Being called 'Deputy' all the time makes me feel like I'm in some kind of western."

"Wait, you watch westerns?" Jenkins' face seemed to light up. "I thought I was the only one. I've been trying to get some of the guys to watch, right guys?"

"Yeah, only every day." One of the marines joked

"So who's your favorite? Hicks? Robinson?"

"I don't know; I've always been a fan of Fillion." I said. Jenkins bobbed his head.

"Ah, a fan of the classicals. I haven't seen much of him myself, you, uh, didn't happen to bring any along with you, did you?"

"No, you guys just scooped me right out of there," that got me a look, "Not that I'm not grateful, I was in pretty bad shape." Our conversation was interrupted by a cough behind us. Jenkins stood to salute.

"XO Pressly."

"At ease Corporal." The ship's Navigator turned to me.

"Deputy Liddle, I've set you up with a billet. You'll find the crew quarters just aft of the cargo elevator. There's also a locker set up to your biometrics just over there, by the medbay. The Commander wants you to go see Gunnery Chief Williams to get your gear. Since you aren't on Alliance payroll, you'll be responsible for maintaining your own weapons and armour."

"Thank you…sir." I said, accepting the datapad he offered.

"Good," the XO said, "and remember, this is an Alliance military ship, not some colonial militia post. We hold to a higher standard." And with that, he was off.

"Don't worry about Pressly, he's old guard, one of Anderson's guys. The Commander'll keep him in line if he gives you too hard a time."

"I don't think he likes me too much." I worriedly watched Pressly march back up to the CIC. Distrusting crew members could be dangerous. If Pressly did some digging, I could find myself dragged before a judge, or even worse, out the airlock.

"Yeah, well, the XO doesn't like civilians, or aliens. Come to think of it, I'm not sure there's anything he does like."

"Regulations maybe?" That got a light chuckle. "Anyway, I should go. Gotta meet the Chief."

* * *

><p>A short ride in the elevator later, I walked out into the cargo hold. The hold felt much more cramped than I remembered it. I gave the room a quick scan. Garrus was perched atop the Mako, chewing on whatever Dextro rations he had brought with him. Over by his table, the requisition officer shared breakfast with one of the nameless engineers. And in the back corner, Chief Williams stood bent over the weapons bench. She was running a glowing Omni-tool over a partially disassembled rifle. "Deputy Liddle, reporting as ordered, ma'am." I snapped off a quick salute.<p>

"Geez kid, where'd you learn to salute." She said. "And it's 'Chief,'" she said with a smile, "They don't pay me enough to call me ma'am. Anyway, I have your kit assembled and ready to go." She snapped the rifle together with practiced precision. "This here's your standard Lancer pattern assault rifle. Heat sink's got capacity for about twenty seven, twenty eight shots and what it lacks in punch it makes up in durability. It's got lots for add-ons and breaks down easy for repairs." She made a show of hitting a series of tabs on the rifle, first breaking it down, then slotting it back together. I tried to memorize the movements. "Ammo block goes back here, looks like you've got standard steel. You're gonna want to look out for feeder fouling every hundred shots or so, that was always an issue on the older Lancers." She continued the lecture. "Any questions?"

"No, I think you covered everything."

"All right then," she said, dropping the folded rifle into a canvas sack. "Next up, your sidearm." She dragged a pistol over from the edge of the bench and dropped it into my hands. It had a familiar weight to it. I turned it over in my hands to see a pair of deep furrows winding down the length of the barrel.

"That's the gun you used on Eden Prime." Ashley noted.

"The Commander didn't want it back?" I asked. I ran my fingers over the rough scratches.

"The gun was marked as damaged and replaced when we hit Arcturus Station. Since the damage was purely cosmetic, the Commander wanted you to have it. It's a Devlon Stinger, if you were wondering, they're supposed to be top of the market."

I collapsed the red handgun into its compact form and placed it on the convenient clip on the uniform belt.

"And finally, the armour," Ashley dumped a neatly folded stack of dark green plates and rubbery undersuit into the sack. "You know the drill with that. Alright, that should be everything."

"No shotgun, sniper rifle?"

"Do you have any idea how heavy that would be? You're skinny enough I had doubts on even issuing you the medium armour." She picked up the sack and dropped it unceremoniously into my arms. It was actually pretty heavy. Some pushups were definitely in order.

"Now get that stowed and go do whatever it is a Spectre's deputy does."

* * *

><p>Exactly what a Spectre's deputy did turned out to be very little. Not being Alliance, I wasn't on the duty roster, so often checking and stowing my gear, I found myself lost for something to do on the way to Therum. I ended up heading back down into the cargo hold just to get out of everyone's way. The bay was surprisingly empty. Wrex was hanging around his usual spot, but no one else seemed to be around.<p>

_Guess I can't expect them to hang around in one spot waiting to be talked to._

I gave a passing nod to Wrex and headed towards the Mako. The IFV's hatch was open. I clambered over into the darkened tank. The cockpit was narrow and cramped, but I was able to wriggle my way into the driver's seat. My feet found three pedals, and my right hand found what must have been the gear stick. By the look of the markings, the transmission worked a lot like that of a big rig truck. That was going to take some getting used to, but with all the time I had spent with my grandfather in his truck would come in handy.

"Hey, who's in there?" I swung around. Garrus had his head halfway into the hatch. "Oh, it's you." He hauled himself into the troop compartment and took a seat in the turret chair. "Magnificent piece of hardware isn't it." He said, stroking the controls.

"Yeah," I replied, "It's Garrus, right? You're the one who got the evidence on Saren."

"That's right, with the quarian's help. I had been running an investigation on him for a while, just something to do in my free time. When the Quarian came to C-Sec, my superiors tried to hush it up. That's when your Shepard approached me."

"Why was the Commander looking for stuff on Saren?" I asked. Since we had been too late to see Powell on Eden Prime, there was no real connection to Nihlus' killer.

"She didn't, she heard I had something on the Geth attack, found me in the middle of an operation, just walked into the middle of a firefight and shut it down. I have to say I was impressed."

"She's like that, isn't she?" I said. That cleared that up.

We sat in silence until the turian spoke again."So, has the Commander tried to sit you down for a chat yet?"

"Hmm?" I was engrossed in poking around the dash of the Mako.

"She seems pretty eager to 'get to know the crew.' She was down here earlier trying to get Wrex's story." I smiled at that. It was exactly how I played Sheppard in the game.

"Probably just wants to get a feel for the newcomers. Us humans don't have much experience working with other species, let alone commanding them."

"That does make sense." Garrus said. He looked out over the bay. "You know, she's not what I expected when I heard they were inducting a Human Spectre. I thought it was just going to be some politician's pet yes-man. Your Shepard puts the mission first, but not at the expense of her team. I like that." The conversation lulled again. Just as I was about to ask some more about his time in C-Sec, the Mako's speakers chimed.

"Detective Vakarian, Deputy Liddle, please report to the Comm room."

"Duty Calls."

* * *

><p>By the time the two of us arrived in the Comm room, the rest of the team had already assembled. We took seats and waited. Commander Shepard cleared her throat.<p>

"You're probably wondering why you've all been called down here." A wave of assent ran through the ring. "We just dropped out of the Artemis Tau relay, Alliance command has asked us to investigate a squad of marines that went missing recently."

Garrus raised a claw to interrupt. "Commander, aren't we already on a mission? And as a Spectre, why are you taking orders from the Alliance?" Shepard regarded him for a second before answering.

"These aren't orders, Garrus, this is a favor to Rear Admiral Kahoku. And as the only Human Spectre, it is my responsibility to look to humanity's interests out here in the galaxy. If you have a problem with that, you can leave." This unexpected show of force shut Garrus up. "Now, the last transmission the squad sent out came from this system." Shepard pointed to the screen behind her, which had a map of the helpfully labeled Sparta system displayed. "When we dropped out of FTL, we picked up a distress call from Edolus, not from the marines, but it's our best lead. I'm going to take a team down, and survey the area. Kaidan, we're picking up some odd readings to the east of the landing zone. I want you to take a detachment of your marines to investigate. Chief Williams, you, me, Garrus, and Wrex are going to proceed on foot to the site of the distress call. Deputy Liddle, you're going to take the Mako for a spin, Corporal Jenkins will be with you to fill in any blanks." Everyone else sat in silence, probably going over there orders. Wrex didn't seem happy that he was being brought along to answer a simple distress call. I was troubled; the whole scenario seemed so familiar. The events of the first game were pretty hazy past the main plot, but something told me this was significant. "Alright, we've got a two day cruise to reach the system, get all your gear set up, be ready to go as soon as we hit atmosphere."

I put the two days spent flying to good use. I spent most of the time either in my bunk reading the Mako's user manual, or sat in the cockpit running simulations. The manual was informative, if a little dry, but what was truly interesting was the medium. In the sack of gear, I had found what looked like a flat, grey, wristwatch. Where the face would have been was shiny metal. Upon strapping it to my wrist, an orange screen had shimmered into existence, congratulating me on my purchase of the Aldrin Labs Bluewire Omni-tool. I tapped the image. The shimmer seemed solid. Suddenly, the familiar sight of an omni-tool wrapped itself around my arm. The rest of the day was spent playing with the settings, finding the manuals on the crew extranet terminals, and dodging glances of the rest of the crew, who were doubtless wondering why I had a giddy look of excitement over using the most basic of programs. Finally, the call came over the intercom, we had reached Edolus.

* * *

><p>Author's Note<p>

First off, I would like to thank everyone who's read and reviewed. Now that I've built up a bit of a buffer, I'll start posting on a semi-regular basis, at least once a week on a Sunday or Monday. Hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoy writing it, stay tuned.

-Liddle Out


	4. Chapter 4: No Heroics

Interloper: Chapter 4

The walk to the hold was nerve wracking. Even in the full suit of armour, I felt exposed. The weight of the pistol on my hip felt reassuring and the helmet added another level of safety, but the feeling from back in the comm room had come back in force. The elevator ride alone allowed the feeling to grow, twisting my gut. It didn't help that the assembled group in the hold wasn't too pleased to see me. Jenkins provided the only friendly face in the crowd. A tremor from the atmospheric entry caused me to stumble, raising a ripple of chuckles from the crowd.

"Settle down people." Shepard ordered from the head of the group. She had her game face back on, a stern mask visible only through the visor of her black helmet. Strung across her back was a folded sniper rifle. I made my way to the waiting Mako and climbed in. Jenkins followed me.

"How are you doing? Nervous?" he asked. I doffed my helmet and hung it on the back of the driver's seat.

"That obvious?" I asked. Jenkins smiled faintly. "I know that face, made it myself the first time I deployed. Don't worry, what's the worst that could happen?"

_That there, is the entire issue my friend._

The Normandy landed with a thump. The ramp descended, letting the ground teams move out over the flat plain they had picked for the landing site. They soon disappeared into the gritty air that whipped across the barren rock.

"Alright, start 'er up." Jenkins said from the turret. I hit the big red button that activated the engine core. The now familiar wave of static rushed through the cockpit as the kinetic barriers powered up. The whirr of the engines built up until they reached a steady shriek. Tentatively, I released the clutch. The Mako shot forward down the ramp and onto the rock below. It bounced a little on its suspension and rolled to a stop. The engine continued its whine.

_Good, didn't stall_.

"Awesome, now just do some turns or something." Jenkins said vaguely from behind me. I released the clutch again, this time pulling into a much gentler roll. The Mako picked up speed nicely, although it reached its max speed pretty quickly. I remembered something about its mass effect fields being oriented for stability rather than speed. The IFV was much more responsive than I remembered it being. I put it through a series of nimble s-turns before bringing it about.

"Hey, you're pretty good at this." Jenkins chimed in. "You see that button there?" he leaned over my shoulder to point at a blue tab on the dash. "Push it." I tapped the button and the Mako leapt vertically into the air.

_Jump jets, those'll come in handy._

"They really only work for short hops," Jenkins said, taking on the air of a lecturer, "cool thing is though, you can reorient then almost thirty degrees above horizontal, it's part of the Mako's SRiMech."

"Self Righting Mechanism?" I guessed.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" I shrugged and continued driving. I was definitely getting the hang of this. The radio buzzed.

"…pard calling ..mandy. Co.. in Nor…" the radio hissed with the interference of the growing dust storm.

"Wait, I can clear that up." Jenkins said. After banging around in the troop compartment, a lot of the static dropped out of the all.

"..peat, this is Shepard calling all ground teams, we are under attack." In the background the sounds of gunfire and some unearthly wail rose above the din of the blowing sand.

"Threshers." I said, recognizing the sound.

"What, no way," Jenkins' voice quavered, "no way they startled a Thresher Maw." But I knew better. This was the start of the Cerberus questline. How could I have forgotten? I scrambled for the radio receiver.

"This is the Mako team, what's your position, over!" I yelled. More gunfire echoed over the channel.

"Liddle, we need … immediate extraction. Coordinates …. screen." A blank panel inside the cockpit began projecting a rough map of the landing zone. Shepard's squad showed up as a blinking red dot.

"Alright, we're coming to get you." I replied.

"No heroics Mako team, just get us the hell out of here."

* * *

><p>The Mako roared over the dusty hills of Edolus. Jenkins was quietly cursing in the back seat. I wracked my brain for a way to take down the Thresher without getting anyone killed. Taking down Cerberus was the key to saving a great many lives, and without a proper investigation of the site that wouldn't happen. A sudden flash of inspiration hit me.<p>

"Jenkins, the Mako has kinetic barriers, so it must have an eezo core, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Can we use the core to change our mass, make us lighter or heavier?" I turned to look at him. He seemed to be thinking frantically.

"I guess if we unhooked the barrier projectors the core should just emit a standard mass effect field. I don't know, I'm not a tech or anything, why?"

"Do it, also, I need you to expose the leads into the core."

"But that, that's dangerous." Jenkins stuttered.

"More dangerous than a Thresher Maw?" I asked. Jenkins face took on a determined set.

"Alright, give me a second." I glanced at the map. The squad was a good minute and a half away.

"You got thirty." The seconds ticked away. I began to see the flashes of gunfire through the dust, which was lit up by an eerie luminescence.

"Done." Jenkins said, "Now what?"

"Now we crank up the shields." I said, hitting the switches. For an instant the compartment was filled with little arcs of static. Then, everything felt weightless. The wheels began spinning against the dirt.

"Mike, we've lost traction!" Jenkins yelled. I jabbed more switches, then held down the jets. The burst of gasses slammed us into the ground. We began to rapidly build up speed. Warning lights flashed next to the jet panel, but I ignored them.

"Alright, I'm going to jump us off this ridge, hopefully, the Thresher should be right in front of us. Now, I want you to switch the leads the second before we impact." Jenkins made a little sound of horror. "Rick, can you do that?"

"Yeah," he said weakly. The Mako zoomed along the plain, bouncing off the ridge and into the view of the Maw. The things' weird blue head whipped around to see the source of the new noise. Being massless, we flew in a straight line right at its head.

"Now!" there was a bright arc behind me, and I felt as if I had been turned to lead. The nose of the Mako dipped suddenly, barely missing the jaws of the Thresher. The pointed prow hit the worm with twice its usual mass. The Mako sheared clear through the massive creature, neatly decapitating it. Behind me the core gave a final shriek in protest, and the interior went dark. The landing was jarring. The Mako pinwheeled end over end until coming to stop in a ditch. Everything was dark. My head ached, and my limbs refused to move. Suddenly, light poured into the compartment and I felt myself being dragged out by the arm. Through the haze, I saw figures running from the crater that had housed the maw worm.

_One, two, three, four. Good, everyone made it._

The figures were closer now, their voices seemed to come through deep water. There was a flash of orange and a cool feeling on the back of my neck. My vision cleared to see Ashley leaning over me.

"Deputy, can you hear my voice?" I nodded. She looked relieved. "He's still with us Commander." The Commander looked down at me.

"Liddle, it seems I'm going to have to get Dr. Chakwas to check your hearing. I think the beacon might have scrambled your eardrums as well as your brain." Behind us, the Mako's jets gave a feeble hiss. "Come on Deputy, we've got work to do."

* * *

><p>The ride back to the Normandy was a lot better than the ride out. With the Mako out of commission, Tali had rigged up a platform to drag it back to the ship. The crew seemed less hostile. Apparently plowing a tank into a Thresher gained you respect. Wrex especially was giving me appreciative nods. All in all, it was a pretty good day.<p>

Back on the ship, the sight of the Mako earned a few stiff remarks from Engineer Adams. As punishment for disobeying orders, I was given the task of re-running the burnt out wiring, replacing fried circuits, and putting the kinetic barriers back together. Jenkins was exempt from this task, since he had been under my orders. The hours spent lying under the vehicle waving my new omni-tool first over the pile of metals and ceramics, then over the tank were not completely wasted. Tali had been happy to help, when Kaidan or the Commander weren't looking of course, and her cheerful conversation gave me the opportunity to learn a lot about the quarians that wasn't in the game. She was just finishing up telling me about her favorite Quarian bands when Wrex came clomping along.

"Liddle, Shepard wants you up in the Comm room." He jerked his thumb back over his shoulder. I pulled myself up off the floor and dusted myself off.

"Don't worry, I'll finish this off." Tali chirped from inside the Mako.

"Thanks, Tali." I shot back and set out for the CIC.

The commander was sitting waiting for me. "Commander," I said, snapping of a much improved salute, "you wanted to see me?"

"Yes." She "I've submitted my report to Alliance Command. Admiral Kahoku wants to give you a medal for taking out the Maw." She was smiling, which was a good sign. And probably meant that she didn't have the Sole Survivor backstory.

"Did the Admiral find anything out about where the transmission came from?" I asked. If it was anything like the game, it would be a while before he found the ties to Cerberus.

"He's still looking, but he says he's close. Anyway, I wanted to hear from you. Anything new from the beacon's images?" I shook my head.

"It's still fuzzy. I think it's a warning though, maybe the Protheans figured out what the Reapers were up to, tried to leave something behind for us to find." That was close enough to the truth anyway. Shepard seemed to consider this for a while before speaking again.

"I see. Well, in the mean time, we're approaching the planet Therum. Our sources indicate that this is the most likely location of Dr. T'Soni." Shepard turned to the screen. The volcanic planet revolved slowly. "Most likely she's here, at this dig site." She pointed to a green light in the Northern Hemisphere. "We'll have to approach the site from the ground, the volcanic activity interferes with the Normandy's sensors. You up to getting us there?"

"Yes ma'am." I assured her.

"Alright, no crashing this time though, the Mako's pretty forgiving, but it's not rated for volcanoes."

"Um, right." I remembered hating this mission, falling into the rivers of lava. Actually being in the cockpit gave me a lot more control though, hopefully enough to avoid fiery death. "So what do you think we'll find down there?"

"Well, if she's anything like her mother, I'm expecting Geth, and lots of them. If not, I'm not sure. We'll do a quick sweep from the air before we touch down." She was half right, there'd be plenty of Geth. It was good to know she was at least expecting a fight. "So, is the Mako ready for action?"

"Yes, ran the last wiring this morning." I lied, Tali had covered that particular bit of repairs.

"Good, dismissed then. And Liddle, good work on Edolus, just don't ignore my orders again."

"Yes Commander."

* * *

><p>"Hey Mike!" Jenkins called from across the Mess. He waved me over. "Have you met Serviceman Dubyansky, or Corporal Steiner?" I didn't recognize the man or woman who were sitting with him.<p>

"I don't think so." I offered a hand, which the two soldiers promptly shook.

"Alexei Dubyansky," the man spoke in a rich Russian accent, "I work in the engine room."

The woman spoke in unaccented English. "Diane Steiner, Alliance Marines. I was in Lieutenant Alenko's detail, did you really run over a Thresher Maw with the Mako?"

"More like flew into it." Jenkins said excitedly. "It was awesome. Anyway, Steiner managed to find a vid on the net, early Hicks. It's no _The Good, The Bad, and The Hanar_, but from what I hear, it's really good."

"Yeah, sure." I replied. Seeing the Western of the future would certainly be interesting.

"I rigged up a screen in the barracks." Dubyansky said flatly, "And Steiner managed to get a hold of a whole crate of MRE apple pies." The corporal smiled.

That night, we played our way through 6 films_._ I found every second fascinating. Not just the concept of a Turian cowboy, or a Dyson Sphere set up like the American Old West, but the way the genre had stuck around almost intact. It was early in the frigate's "day" cycle when we all rolled into our separate bunks.

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

After the positive response, and looking over what I've written so far, I've decided to post this on a Monday/Thursday schedule. I'm pretty confident I can keep up two chapters a week, but bear with me if I come up a little shorthanded occasionally. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and hope you will check in on Thursday.

-Liddle Out


	5. Chapter 5: The Asari

Interloper: Chapter 5

The trip to Therum was pretty uneventful. I spent a lot of time chatting with either Jenkins and his friends, or Garrus when they were on duty. I also spent a lot of time on the Mako, giving it a fresh coat of paint to go with the new circuitry. Ashley had given me pot of black paint to paint a Thresher on the hull. I was just putting on the final touches when the elevator gate opened behind me.

"Liddle, suit up, we're going down." I dragged the armour out of the Mako and slipped it on. The rest of the team was assembled by the weapons bench. "Okay team, since the dig itself is currently inaccessible from the air, we'll be dropping the Mako in a short distance from the site and driving in. A small team will secure the LZ, Alenko, that's up to your detail, while I take another team in to find and extract Doctor T'Soni."

"What if she doesn't want to come?" Garrus asked from the back of the group.

"Then we'll be forced to capture her. Wrex, you think your biotics can match an Asari's?" Shepard looked over to the krogan mercenary.

"You can count on it." He replied, with a look like a hungry shark's.

"Good, you and Garrus will accompany me to the digsite. Liddle, start up the Mako, everyone else, finish with your gear. Let's do this, people."

The blistering heat of Therum sent waves shimmering off the Mako's hull. Inside the cramped crew compartment, it remained temperate, though with Wrex stuffed into the tight space it was far from comfortable. I rolled out onto the scorched earth as marines in sealed hardsuits fanned out around me. Kaiden gave us the thumbs up, and we sped off towards the spot marked on the map.

"Looks like the ground's a little unstable in parts, keep us away from those edges." Shepard said over my shoulder.

"Avoid the lakes of molten rock, got it." I shot back.

"Watch it, Deputy, one Joker's enough for this crew."

"Yes, Commander." The compartment grew quiet as we continued over the black landscape. The path was wider than in the game, but the searing lava made it hard to see where we were going. I spent half the time looking at the map, which incorporated the Normandy's aerial photography. A red blip appeared at the edge of the radar screen. "Uh, Commander, we've got company." More dots joined the first. Suddenly, the air was filled with a shrieking hum as a Geth dropship rocketed overhead.

"Garrus, get on the turret!" the Commander ordered as the first shots began pinging off of the kinetic barriers. "Keep us moving, don't let them draw a bead on us!" I began to take the Mako through a set of veering turns, careful to avoid the edges. The turret above my head began to thump out a steady rhythm as Garrus tried to knock out the armatures the ship had dropped off. One of their siege pulses rippled past in a near miss. The resistance was getting stiffer as we neared the dig.

"Keep pushing, Deputy, we're almost there." Shepard said as I ran down one of the Geth troopers. I had found myself in a clearing full of Geth, which seemed to be dropping in as fast as Garrus was taking them out. I steered around one of the larger armatures as Garrus stitched fire up and down its body. The thing went down with a mechanical squeal. The clearing led to another ledge, which ended abruptly in a wall of rock.

"Commander, it's a dead end!" I yelled.

"We'll just have to take it on foot then," said Wrex. He was gripping his shotgun with a look of cruel pleasure on his wide face, "look, there's a crack there."

"Commander?" I turned to the officer.

"We'll go in on foot." She said with a set jaw, "Hold the door open Deputy." I nodded. The team jumped out onto the hot ground wordlessly. The commander turned to me and yelled over the scorching wind. "And Liddle, no heroics!" the hatch closed behind them with a snap. The three figures ran up the slope behind the wall of rock and were soon lost from sight. I rolled the Mako into a hull down position behind a shallow ridge, throwing the IFV into park. I clambered back into the gunner's seat and turned the gun out over the path we had just traversed. The radar was clean, but it paid to be safe.

* * *

><p>The minutes seemed to drag on. The radio had been silent since the evac team went underground, and the Geth threat had wholly failed to materialize. I took to trying to remember how the Therum mission had ended, something about an erupting volcano? The tremor that ran through the ground jogged me back to the present. The radio squawked.<p>

"…stable, mining las…" then it cut out. That meant Shepard had found Liara, and had triggered the explosion, but what had she been trying to tell me? I thumbed the radio over to the Normandy's channel, maybe they had better reception.

"Mako to Normandy, Joker, what's going on?"

"I'm on my way to pick you up, Mako, hold tight."

"What? But the party hasn't gotten back yet." I replied. My heart caught in my chest. Had something gone wrong? Was the entire group trapped down there?

"I know, Mako, orders are to pull you out and circle until we can make an extraction, Joker out." That left me alone in the rumbling Mako. The rush of the Normandy above was almost drowned by the rattling of the compartment. I jumped back into the driver's seat and got back on the radio.

"Joker, is there any way you can drop me closer? Maybe I can pick them up that way." I said hopefully.

"Negative, Mako, I put you down on that ground and you'll go right through it." The rumbling continued until I had driven all the way into the hold. The hatch hissed as I popped out into the ship. The new paint was blackened with soot and enemy fire. The ship rocked as we took a tight turn. Through the open doors I saw the collapsing ruins. My eyes gravitated to the tunnel that led down into the excavation. It was still closed.

_Come on._

The hole in the ground opened up and four figures came pelting out. The Normandy swooped down towards the yawning cavern that was opening up all around them.

"Hold on, this is going to be close." Joker said over the intercom. The ground grew rapidly. The engines whined as the Normandy flared out, arresting its descent just above the four people. The ground team leapt up onto the open ramp. Marines rushed forward to pull them up, three of them having to grab a hold of the krogan. Beneath us, molten sulphur began to hiss and bubble up through cracks. The hatch closed and the Normandy rocketed back into the sky.

* * *

><p>The comm room was quiet as we all filed in. Liara herself looked especially shaken. Garrus was nursing some minor burns and Wrex looked extremely satisfied. Shepard stood to start the meeting.<p>

"Apart from the loss of the Prothean ruin, I'd call this mission a resounding success. Dr. T'Soni has agreed to help us track down Saren and the Conduit."

"Commander, are you sure we can trust her?" Ashley asked, "I mean, her mother is working with the Geth."

"I am not my mother." Liara said forcefully, "In fact, Benezia and I haven't spoken in a long time."

"And besides, if she was working with Saren, why would the Geth be attacking her?" I added.

"Liddle is right," Shepard said, "Odds are, Saren wanted the doctor's knowledge of the Protheans to help him find the Conduit, knowledge that T'Soni has offered to us."

"Yes, I am happy to help you in any way I can." Liara said, "I believe you mentioned that one of your crew received a message from a Prothean beacon."

"Liddle, tell her what you saw, maybe she can make more sense of it." Shepard glanced over at me.

"I can do better than that, Commander. We Asari can directly link minds with other beings. Seeing the message first hand would prevent superior insight." I looked over to Shepard.

"Commander?"

"It's your brain, I'm not going to order you."

_Here goes nothing._

I stood face to face with the Asari. There was the tingle I had come to associate with mass effect fields. Liara's pupils snapped to fill her eyes entirely. There was a feeling, a gentle push at the edge of my mind. It was as if warm water was being poured into my head. Then the images began to flow before my eyes. They were still just images, circuits, fear, fire, death.

The presence withdrew from my mind and I found myself leaning back against a strong pair of hands.

"You alright, Deputy?" Kaidan let me go as I got back on my own feet.

"I'm fine." I said dully. My head was pounding again. Liara herself was looking a little worse for wear.

"That was… intense." Liara said. "It's definitely a warning of some kind. Maybe information on their extinction event, I don't know, the images are so chaotic. I'm surprised you can stand it." She looked at me. The Commander spoke up.

"I want you both to report to Dr. Chakwas, everyone else is dismissed."

* * *

><p>Liara and I walked out and made our way down to the medbay. Dr. Chakwas gave Liara a quick once over and declared her in perfect health, if a little dehydrated. She was less happy with my results. She ran tests and muttered things under her breath like, "unusual patterns" and "dangerous intrusions." I just let her do her work, lying back with a cool cloth over my forehead. The ceiling began to swim in and out of focus. At times I heard voices, the Commander, Liara, even Kaidan showed up to check on me. It was much later when the voices started making sense. Liara was talking to Shepard.<p>

"I am sorry; I didn't know it would have this effect."

"Don't blame yourself, there's no way you could have known." Shepard said gently, "Dr. Chakwas says he'll recover, although I'm going to have him sit out the next few missions."

"Commander." I said.

"Hey Deputy, how you doing?" the two of them moved in closer. I couldn't see clearly enough to make out expressions, but her voices sounded much warmer than I was used to.

"I've been better, ma'am." I fumble and try to prop myself up.

"Woah there, rest for now, you can't lead us to the Conduit if your brain leaks out your ears." Liara looked horrified. "A joke, Dr. T'Soni, Liddle'll be fine."

"Where are we headed next?" I asked.

"Don't worry about it Deputy, you need to focus on getting well." Shepard said. That bugged me a little, but I was just so tired.


	6. Chapter 6: Out of Action

Interloper: Chapter 6

It was almost a week before Jenkins managed to get enough off duty time to come visit. He filled me in on some minor stuff that had happened about the ship. Finally, the subject of the ongoing mission came up.

"Well, we've been parked in orbit over this planet, Tuntau I think, Wrex wanted something from some guy down there. Anyway, we've had him under siege for like, five hours now."

"A siege?"

"Yeah, this guy, Actus, he's got a ton of men in this compound. The Commander is personally leading our snipers, it's a battle of attrition down there. We don't have the numbers to storm the place, and they don't have the support to beat us back, so we just sit and take potshots at anyone dumb enough to raise their heads."

"We can't just use the Normandy's air support?" I asked. It seemed like having a spaceship around would make a siege totally unnecessary.

"Not if we want to take the place intact. Wrex almost blew a gasket when A… I mean Chief Williams suggested we hit them from orbit."

"Wish I'd been up to see that." I said ruefully.

"I don't know, it was dicey down there in the hold. The chief doesn't back down easy." Jenkins mimed yelling energetically and then cocking a shotgun.

"Alright, so what are we doing about Saren and the Geth?" the freeze out, supposedly for my own good, was really getting to me. Knowing the story but being utterly unable to influence events wore thin quickly.

"I don't know everything, but I'm pretty sure we're on our way to Feros. The Commander's been stopping off at each relay to collect local comm. traffic, that's how we found this compound, but we're definitely headed Galactic West."

_Feros, that means the Thorian, and the Cipher. Sure hope I'm cleared for duty before then._

"Thanks Rick, they haven't told me anything down here." Jenkins looked decidedly uncomfortable. Badmouthing his superiors was definitely not the way to go. "I know, it's for my own good, low stress and all that, but really, it's more stressful not knowing."

"I know, man, that's the life of us grunts. Speaking of which, I have to get back to my duties. Hold in there." He got up and left the medbay. I rolled over to face the ceiling. The only spot of joy that day was Dr. Chakwas clearing me to leave the infirmary, though no amount of wheedling would get me cleared for missions. So it was back to the barracks, checking and cleaning gear I wasn't going to use. Every now and again a big headache would hit, nothing unbearable, but increasingly annoying. With most of the marines planetside and the crew attending to their duties, the barracks were pretty empty.

* * *

><p>After every bit of kit had been inspected, polished, and set back in its place, I passed through the mess to see if anything had been left out. The slim pickings really only served as a light snack, but after a week of infusion, it was good to get some real food again.<p>

"Mind if I sit?"

"Sure thing, Tali." I answered without even looking up. That voice was pretty unmistakable. "What brings you up to the crew deck?"

"The same as you." She rattled a small pack of brightly coloured ovals. "I would offer you some, but, you know."

"Hmm, yeah, I'm good with the whole not burning in agony thing. So, find anything new and exciting out about the engines?"

"Nothing new today, I think Engineer Adams is getting tired of me always asking questions." The Quarian shook her head slightly.

"I'm sure he's just getting used to someone who knows more about ships than he ever will."

"Pehaps." Tali sounded happier with this explanation. "So how's your head?"

"Fine," I lied, "I don't see why everyone's making such a big deal about it."

"Yeah, you _only_ almost went into a coma." Tali chided, "No reason for us to worry or anything."

"Well I didn't," I finished lamely. There was a sudden burst of noise from the elevator. Several marines limped their way over to the medbay, supported by their comrades. At the back of the line was Corporal Steiner. She noticed me and came over.

"You guys take some hits down there?" I motioned towards the string of soldiers.

"Yeah, I guess Actus got tired of being pinned down in one place. Came out guns blazing. We took him out though. The Commander's still doing a sweep for that Krogan's armour."

"Deputy Liddle, you're up and about." Alenko approached the table. "How's the head?"

"It's fine." I said through gritted teeth.

"Well good, if it starts bugging you again, I've got a few tips for dealing with headaches. Corporal." He nodded towards the other marine. Steiner gave a lazy salute, which Kaiden seemed to accept. "The Commander will be up soon."

It was a while before the Commander emerged. Her armour was nicked and scoured, a thin stream of blood trickling from a cut on her forehead. She broke away from Garrus and came over to our table.

"My head's fine, Commander." I said before she could start talking.

"Wasn't going to ask." Said Sheppard, "Dr. Chakwas tells me you're asking to be cleared for missions."

"Yes, I want to contribute to the mission." I said honestly.

"You have contributed, your visions are still our best bet at finding Saren."

"Yes, but…"

"No buts, we'll talk about this later."

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

><p>Later turned out to be the next day. We were underway again. Rumor had it that we had already received another mission from the fleet.<p>

"Deputy. I wanted to talk." I whirled to find the Commander behind me.

"Alright." I said.

"Walk with me." We walked a slow loop towards the cargo elevator. "I just wanted to let you know, I understand how you feel about being sidelined. I've been there, after the Blitz. The pinned a medal on my chest and sat me out. I was so mad, I wanted to get right back in there, just like you. I'm going to tell you what Captain Anderson told me back then; stick it out. I know from your perspective we're holding you back, but you can do more good for the team by resting up until you're ready to give 110% than rushing back onto the field and getting yourself killed."

I nodded, "Thanks Commander, I understand," Sheppard smiled.

"Good, you've got potential, Liddle, don't ruin by overstraining yourself."

The Commander was right, of course. The headaches still hit pretty regularly, which on the battlefield could be deadly. I spent the rest of the day looking for ways to influence events outside of simply going down on missions. A flash of insight hit. I ran off to find Tali. I found the Quarian engineer talking to Dubyansky.

"Hey Tali, could I talk to you in private?" the two gave me strange looks.

"Um, yeah, I guess." Tali said. "Hold that thought Alexei, I'll be back." She followed me back to the hold. I checked to make sure no one was in earshot.

"Michael, what is this about?"

"Alright, say I wanted to send a message to Alliance command, or a specific Admiral, but I don't want it traced back to me, or the Normandy. Theoretically, of course."

"Well, theoretically, you could set up a program to dump the message into a comm buoy with some code to hold it for about a week, that's how long it takes for the buoys to dump their tracking data to prevent overflow. After that the message could shoot off and the furthest they could track it would be the buoy you dropped it in. But why do you ask? What are you up to?"

"If I told you, would you help me out? It's important."

"Maybe," Tali sounded nervous, "Tell me what you're doing."

_May as well._

"It's about the Thresher Maw, back on Edolus. Something didn't seem right, so I did some digging. It's happened before, on Akuze. Same M.O., marines responded to a distress call, Thresher attacked, and the whole thing covered up."

"You should tell Sheppard about this." Tali said.

"I can't, this whole thing stinks of an inside job. The Commander's a Spectre, she has to make full report to the Council and the Alliance, there's too much chance for interception."

Tali mulled this over. Eventually she started to speak. "Alright, I'll help you, but I don't like this."

"Thanks Tali. I promise, once the right people have been warned, I'll tell the Commander everything."

"You better. I have to get back to Alexei, we'll talk later." I watched the Quarian leave. I left for the barracks. Once there, I set about drafting a warning to Admiral Kohoku. In the game, there was no chance to save him, but here I had a chance. A couple of hours and many revisions later, I had what I hoped would be an adequate warning.

* * *

><p>Admiral,<p>

I know that you are investigating the events on Edolus. You have no doubt discovered the connection to Akuze, and to Cerberus. I want to warn you. Cerberus knows about your investigation, and they won't let you continue. You have to find somewhere to hide, somewhere they won't find you.

-yellowjacket

* * *

><p>I looked at the signature. Hopefully the Admiral would draw the connection to Cerberus' black and yellow and believe I was some Cerberus insider. The doors to the crew berths opened with a swish. Dubyansky came in, accompanied by Tali. The two were deep in conversation. As they passed my bunk, Tali slipped me an optical disk. I loaded it up on my Omni-tool. The program looked like the Omni-tool's default text processor, but in the usual 'send' function's place was a simple black box. I copied over the message and addressed the message. The text was replaced with the word 'sent.' I deleted the original message, no reason to leave any evidence.<p>

The next morning we arrived over the planet Klendagon. The Commander called us all to the meeting room for a briefing.

"I know you've all heard the rumors. I want to clear up everything right now. There's a situation down on the planet that Admiral Hackett needs taken care of, there's a commune of Biotics led by a former Major Kyle. Our intel suggests that the Major is abusing his position, and has turned this commune into a cult. Alliance negotiators sent in have disappeared. The Admiral wants this dealt with quietly since Kyle is a veteran of Torfan, so this doesn't leave here, understood?" We all agreed. "Good, now I'm going to take down a small team, Alenko, you're an officer and a biotic, and Williams will accompany me in the Mako. Garrus, I need you to drive." She fixed me with a look, as if to quell any protest. I made none, if things went sour, I really didn't want to be in a compound full of angry biotics.

"I'll make the preparations immediately." Garrus turned and left the room in a hurry.

"Do we have any other intel?" Kaidan asked, "What drove the Major to do this?"

"Alliance psychologists seem to agree that Major Kyle suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, though they didn't realize the scope until he disappeared with a handful of disturbed followers and started calling himself 'Father Kyle.'"

"That's it? He's just crazy? That's the best they could come up with?" Kaidan didn't look happy with the prognosis.

"The fighting on Torfan was brutal, I've seen people come back messed up from much less." Ashley chimed in. "Sometimes they just can't handle it."

"Any other questions?" Shepard asked. "No? Dismissed." The team shuffled out. I found myself at the back of the bunch.

"Michael?" I stopped and turned to face the asari. "I hoped I could talk to you. About the visions." She shifted nervously from foot to foot.

"Yeah, alright. What's up?"

"I don't think I properly apologized for the pain I put you through. I want you to know that it wasn't my intention to have you sidelined."

"Wasn't your fault, I was the one who leapt in front of the beacon in the first place."

"Yes, I heard you pulled one of the marines out of the beacon's path. That was very brave of you."

"Yeah, a lot of good that did me." I said half-heartedly. "I'm starting to regret jumping into the beacon at all; I should have pulled away when I had the chance."

"Really? I find it fascinating," Liara responded, "You were marked by the beacon on Eden Prime; you were touched by working Prothean technology."

_Now this sounds familiar._

"It sounds like you want to dissect me in a lab or something." I said, following the script. Liara's face went wide with shock.

"What? No, I didn't mean to insinuate… I didn't mean to offend you, Michael, I only meant that you would be an interesting specimen for an in depth study. No, that's worse."

"Hey, relax, I was just teasing. I'd be happy to talk about the Protheans with you, you know, without the brain…thing."

"Oh no, I'm afraid I'd bore you. I've only really spoken about the Protheans in academic circles. It's all very dry." She looked away.

"Dr. T'Soni, I've got a message from a long dead race wound up in my brain. You're one of the leading experts on this long dead race. That message isn't going anywhere, so I might as well try to understand it."

"I wouldn't say _leading_ expert." Liara said shyly, "But you make a good point. All right, I'll tell you whatever you want to know, on one condition."

"What condition would that be?"

"Call me Liara, only the Matriarchs at the university called me 'Dr. T'Soni.' I've been staying in the lab behind the medbay if you want to talk now."

"Alright, Liara, lead the way."

It didn't take long to realize that Liara wasn't just obsessed with the Protheans, she idolized them. It was kind of sad actually, knowing what massive jerks the Protheans would turn out to have been. Liara talked at length about the ruins she had found, her work trying to translate the Prothean language, and some of her wilder theories on why the all died out.

"Although I suspect that I'll have to admit that I was wrong to the University if these Reapers actually show up." She said at the end of her theory that the Protheans had undergone a massive civil war.

"Hopefully, we'll never have to find out," I said, "If the message is anything to go by, the Reapers took the Protheans down hard."

"Yes." Liara looked over to the clock on her desk. It read 4:30 ship time. "Oh, it's so late. I won't keep you any longer." We both stood.

"No, no, it was definitely time well spent."

"Perhaps we can do it again some time. Your theory that the Protheans were actually a multi-species empire was certainly worth looking into. Goodnight, Michael."

"Night." I slipped out through the medbay. A few marines lay snoring on the berths. I was careful not to wake Dr. Chakwas. The night watch eyed me critically as I made my way back to the barracks. Opening the door elicited a few annoyed groans and more than a few snickers. I rolled thankfully into my bunk and went straight to sleep.

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

Bonus Easter Update. Here's a slightly longer chapter to make up for Thursday's short one. Also, chapters will now have names, just because. I'll still be updating on Monday, so stay tuned.

-Liddle Out


	7. Chapter 7: Passing Muster

Interloper: Chapter 7

It was a struggle dragging myself to the mess hall the next morning. The whole "get up early, work until late" military schedule was starting to drag on me.

"Morning, Rick." I slumped into the seat and dragged the nearest tray of the yellow ship's eggs over to my plate. "The Commander get back yet?"

"See for yourself." Jenkins pointed up to the officer's table. Shepard sat there with Kaidan, Liara, and Dr. Chakwas. Kaidan had apparently just gotten to the end of a joke, since the table burst into a wave of light chuckles.

"I guess they were successful then." I noted. Jenkins nodded.

"Do you know what they were doing down there? It's all been very hush-hush up here."

"Not sure I'm allowed to tell anyone," I said, "It's classified or something."

"Oh, fine then." Jenkins went quiet for a while. "So I managed to get a hold of a new vid and the whole gang's got some downtime tomorrow. You in?"

"Yeah, definitely." I said, "Same place?"

"Actually, we're setting up down in the shuttle bay. Apparently Garrus enjoys the gunplay and wanted to join us."

* * *

><p>I felt more awake after shoveling down a serving or two of eggs, so I decided to get some more "yellowjacket" messages sent out. I retreated to one of the extranet terminals and ran a few searches. The news hadn't reported anything from Terra Nova, so I sent a brief message to the Terra Nova garrison warning them about a batarian plot. I also tracked down the address of Alliance marine, Jacob Taylor. I sent an innocuous looking scouting report about the planet Aeia, mentioning what looked like the wreckage of the Hugo Gernsback. According to the extranet reports, the ship had already been missing for eight years. Hopefully the situation on the ground hadn't already gotten to the point it had in the game.<p>

That ended up burning about an hour. I spent the rest of the day knocking about in the Mako and chatting with Garrus. He had taken a shine to the transport's main gun and was running a series of calibrations.

* * *

><p>The next day was a blur of activity. The Normandy had changed course again, this time for the Citadel. Shepard had announced over the intercom that there would be some form of inspection, which had whipped the crew into a frenzy. Servicemen moved from place to place. There was a great deal of scrubbing and shifting of crates. XO Pressly and Chief Williams seemed to be everywhere, barking orders. The other non-Alliance members and I took shelter on the engineering deck, which Engineer Adams kept in inspection ready condition all the time as a matter of pride. The day past quickly over several rounds of Skylian Five Poker. I turned out to be terrible at it. The characteristic shudder of a relay transition interrupted a particularly ruinous hand.<p>

"You better clear that away." Dubyansky noted, "top brass frowns on gambling in the engine room." We packed up our cards and stowed them in a locker. No sooner had we finished, when the intercom chimed in a sound reminiscent of boson's pipes.

"All hands, Admiral on deck." The various crew members still down in the hold formed a line and snapped to attention. The aliens and I huddled near the Mako.

"On a Turian vessel, the entire crew would have gathered in the central corridor for inspection by a general. You humans just seem to gather where they stand." Garrus looked at the straight backed marines across the room.

"I think the Alliance prefers to inspect its crews at their stations, that way they can be questioned about the ship." I guessed.

"A Turian general would already know everything there is to know about the ship he was inspecting. Sometimes I wonder how you humans survived the Relay 314 Incident."

At that moment, the elevator began to descend. The doors opened on a short and angry looking man in an Admiral's uniform. His eyes scanned the bay in a way that suggested he was searching for any minute detail out of place. His face grew grim as his eyes alighted on us. He walked over.

"What's this?" he asked his aide. The aid tapped on a datapad.

"This is the non-human and civilian compliment, sir; Shepard has recruited them to aid her in her mission."

"A turian? And a krogan? Who authorized this?" the admiral snapped. Wrex rose to his full height and leered down at the Alliance officer.

"No one authorized this, little human; we don't need your permission to join a council Spectre." He bared a mouth full of teeth.

"I am Rear Admiral Mickhailovich of the Alliance Navy, you will not address me in this way!" the admiral tried to match the krogan for height, but fell far short of the fierce mercenary.

"Admiral, Wrex is a powerful warlord among his people, he addresses everyone that way." _That might salve his pride some._

"A warlord, eh?" the admiral seemed less livid. "I suppose that means that your clan supports the Alliance?"

"I support Shepard." Wrex said simply. The Admiral stared him down for a long moment.

"I suppose I will allow it." He said at long last. He turned on his heel and strode towards the engine room. After he had gone, Wrex let out a harsh laugh.

"A powerful warlord, hah! I left my people years ago, cast out for calling for peace. You've got spirit, kid, lying to an admiral like that."

I shrugged. "Odds were the admiral hasn't brushed up on his krogan politics. I figured the only way to get him to back down was to get him to think he'd gain politically." Wrex shook his head.

"You humans and your politicians."

* * *

><p>The rest of the inspection went more smoothly. The admiral left with a slightly higher esteem for the Normandy and its mission. The Commander released the crew for its shore leave and I soon found myself on the Presidium Ring, sharing a round of drinks with Jenkins and a few of the other marines. The drinks had an odd, almost spicy taste. Jenkins nearly took a swig of turian brandy on a dare before the bartender deftly snatched the glass out of his hands.<p>

"C'mon, really guys? I coulda died."

"Relax, Jenkins, we were never going to actually let you drink it."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure the regs frown on the intentional poisoning of your battle buddies."

I didn't pay much attention to the rest of the conversation. My eyes were locked on an asari across the room. If my memory served me well, that was Nassana Dantius, and right now she was trying to trick Commander Shepard into killing her sister for her. The two women sat close. From my seat, I couldn't make out their conversation, but Nassana's face seemed to convey just right mix of worry and anger. She was a very good actor.

The marines finished their ribbing of Jenkins and got to their drinking. I got a little flak myself for not joining them. One of the marines started to brag about his visit to the asari Consort.

"Hah, there's no way you went to the Consort." I laughed.

"What do you mean?" the marine slurred slightly.

"On a grunt salary? Consort's not cheap."

"He's got you there, Hopkins." Steiner said, "It's what? A year's salary per visit?" the other marines joined in. Hopkins got a little red in the face.

"Shut up." He said finally, getting up to leave. Jenkins and the other marines dragged themselves to their feet.

"You coming, Liddle?"

"Nah, I think I'll stay a bit, I like the view." I motioned towards the open balcony.

"All right then." The group staggered away, singing off key.

"Having fun?" Shepard had sat down across from me. She took a deep pull of something green.

"Hmm?" my own drink had gotten warm. "Oh, yeah. Turns out running over a giant worm does wonders for your popularity with the marines."

"They're a good bunch of guys." Shepard said pensively. She looked out across the lounge.

"Commander?"

"I'm off duty, Liddle. Call me Shepard." The Commander turned to face me.

"Alright… Shepard, you okay? You seem a bit distant."

"Oh, just had to deal with some…." She went quiet. You ever heard of Mindoir, Liddle?"

"That colony that got hit by slavers?"

"Yeah, well, I was born there, lost my parents in that raid when I was only 16. I joined the military as soon as I was old enough, just to get back at them."

"Shepard, I'm sorry." I reached out to touch her hand, but she moved to drink from her glass again.

"I just met another survivor; she was taken by the batarians." Shepard almost spat the last word. "They tortured her until she didn't even remember her own name. She was so helpless. I don't know, I guess it brought it all back." Another deep pull. "You understand though, right? You're a colony kid like me; you know what it's like to just be out there, days away from the nearest fleet."

"Yes, I understand." I lied, "but we do what we can, us colony kids, we fight them."

"Damn Right," Shepard said more forcefully, "that's why people like you and me; we've got to put a stop to the Saren's and the batarians. For the colonies." She raised her glass. I clinked my own against hers and drained the spicy liquid in one gulp. "Now, I've got a meeting with the Consort, something about plugging her security leaks." The Commander strolled off.

"Glad I could help." I muttered to no one in particular.

* * *

><p>I spent the rest of the shore leave tracking down Jenkins. With our vid plans ruined by the inspection, he taken it upon himself to find a cinema that catered to westerns. The Grand Desert theatre was a little run down, but well lit, and garishly decorated in a friendly style. The vids playing were a lot of fun. Garrus had found us, along with Dubyansky and Tali. Between us we managed to scrape together enough credits to watch a double feature. Hours later, we walked out into the Citadel's perpetual daytime.<p>

"That was awesome!" Jenkins jabbered excitedly. I had to agree. Almost a century and a half of technological development had only improved Hollywood's offerings. "Hey Garrus, it looked like you were only turian in the audience."

"Yes, well, the Hierarchy isn't too keen on the concept of lone gunmen who play by their own rules." Garrus gave the best approximation of a shrug.

"Wouldn't that describe you pretty well, Garrus?" I asked.

"I never claimed to be popular among the Turian High Command." Garrus said with a laugh. At that moment a slightly dazed Commander Shepard rushed past us.

"What do you think that was about?" asked Tali.

"I don't know, but the Commander just met a survivor from Mindoir. She's probably still a little shaken."

"Makes sense, wasn't that colony raided when she was a child?" Jenkins added.

"That's rough." Garrus said.


	8. Chapter 8: Ground Op

Interloper: Chapter 8

When the Normandy finally left the Citadel, we had already received another mission. Shepard had apparently agreed to take Nassana Dantius' request. The transition to the Macedon system was as smooth as ever, but I found myself a little worried. I knew that Nassana's sister was in fact the slaver we had been sent to kill, but Shepard and the others would walk in as if riding to the rescue. If Shepard found out that she had basically been conned into becoming a hitman, I didn't know what she would do, especially with the display in the Presidium lounge.

"Ready to go?" I looked up to find the Commander standing above me in her full armour. "We're gonna need a driver down there."

"You're clearing me for duty again?" This was a chance to intervene, if necessary.

"Dr. Chakwas tells me you've made a full recovery, even those headaches you've been trying to hide from the crew."

"Commander, I…"

"Relax, there's nothing wrong with wanting to get back to the fight. Just next time, don't lie to the lady with the med scanner, okay?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good, now gear up, and wear your pressure seals, this world's a nasty one." It wasn't long before I sat back in the driver's chair on the Mako. I ran the engine and weapon checks as the rest of the team received a briefing outside. The first to climb in behind me was Liara.

"You're coming on this mission?" I asked, surprised.

"Yes, there are pirates down there enslaving my fellow asari. How could I not come?" her voice seemed stretched, and hard as iron. It wasn't the calm and mellow voice that had talked at length about ruins and caves.

"I just didn't take you for a fighter." I said

"Normally I would agree with you, but I have this pistol, and my biotics, and there are people who need our help."

"Well said." Kaidan slid in, followed by Tali and Shepard. I flipped the engine switches on as the doors opened ahead of us. The murky brown terrain flashed by below us, a flash of grey ahead marked our target. I jammed down on the accelerator and threw the IFV into gear. We lurched out into empty space. I kicked in the jets as we neared the ground. The Mako hit the ground running. Shepard ran through the plan one last time.

"This is a hostage rescue; don't go shooting if you don't have to. The stronghold our target is cooped up in looks pre-fab, unless they've put a lot of effort into it, we can be sure to see this kind of layout." The holographic representation of a squat, two story building splashed over the inside wall. "This segment here should provide us with some cover, Liara, Tali, I want you to stick to this wall like glue. Kaidan and I will push along here and do a sweep to the back wall. Liddle, you'll be covering us."

"Commander, this thing won't fit through those doors."

"On foot, Liddle."

"Yes, of course, on foot." The feeling of nervousness started to leach back into my gut. The Mako filled up with silence as we roared along the muddy landscape. "This is it, the compound should be just over this ridge." The Mako bounded over the rise and into a flurry of small arms fire. Kaidan lit up the defenders first with the machine gun, then with the cannon. I ground to a halt just before the closed doors. Shepard popped the hatch. The thick, ammonia laden air roiled in through the cabin.

"Go, go, go!" one after the other, the team slid out of the troop compartment. After I locked down the controls, I followed them. I withdrew my Lancer, the weight felt comforting.

"Tali, the door." Shepard barked over the comm. The quarian ran forward and began to run a bypass on the door. The atmosphere on his planet was oppressive, even through the suit. I felt like a tube of toothpaste being squeezed from all sides. I checked the seals on my helmet. All clear.

"Got it." The doors cracked wide enough to be forced open. The team moved forward into a small airlock. The air cycled out the toxic ammonia and let us out into an empty hallway.

"Alright, the main area should be just through there." Shepard pointed at the door at the other end of the hall. "Stack up, be ready to take fire, remember your positions." We all huddled beside the closed door. "Now!" Kaidan was first through the door. He had boosted his biotic barriers enough to shrug off the hail of fire that met him. Shepard snapped off a quick sniper rifle shot around the corner and looked over at me. "Liddle, you're up."

_This is it._ I grasped my rifle and bolted through the doors. I also had a second to scope out the room before I began to take fire. Ahead of me, Alenko was engaged in a biotic duel with the asari slaver. Inside my helmet, a shield indicator light flashed a warning. I sprinted hunched over to the nearest cover. I slammed down behind a crate just in time. With a sound like breaking glass, my shields collapsed. I saw Tali and Liara break for their wall. I blind fired over the crate to try and give them some cover. The slavers returned fire, their rounds clawed into the crate. I scrabbled to find better cover under the blistering assault. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a slaver lining up a shot on the distracted Kaidan. I let loose on the sniper, who dove back into cover.

Sheppard moved into the room, firing on the slavers. A shot caught the asari in the shoulder and spun her around. Freed from his duel, Alenko began launching biotic blasts at the slavers still in cover. I hazarded a peek over the crate and let off a short volley of shots. Across the room, Liara pulled a slaver forward, setting him up for Tali's shotgun. Somewhere in the back of the compound, a small fire had started. Through the smoke, I saw the outline of another merc. I thrust out my arm and activated my omni-tool. The mini-fabber fired up, launching a spherical glob of incendiary gel. The glob splattered on the merc's shields and ignited. I unloaded on the distracted enemy. He went down hard and stayed down.

"Clear!" Sheppard yelled. I looked around. There was no movement in the compound. "Split up, look for the captive asari."

* * *

><p>I moved forward carefully. The evidence I wanted was in the back office. The door opened smoothly. I snuck over to the desk and booted up the terminal. The screen was locked, so I deployed an omni-gel worm to autohack the system. The silvery fluid worked its way into the hardware and began its work. The extranet had been aflood with all kinds of useful omni-tool programs.<p>

The hack only took a few seconds to run. The terminal opened to a directory. I scrolled through, trying to find anything that would be useful. The asari had kept meticulous notes and shipping manifests. I gave up looking for the specific evidence. I quickly copied over all of the files and deleted the originals.

"Anything here?" Kaidan asked from the door.

"No, looks like they wiped everything when we attacked."

"Damn. The rest of the compound's empty too. I don't think they even kept captives here." There was a sudden burst of gunfire. Kaidan and I rushed up the ramp to the source. In one of the side rooms, a massive krogan had Shepard up against the wall by the neck.

"You have the gall to attack us, in our base!" the krogan shook Sheppard like a doll. Inside the room, Liara had her gun trained on the krogan.

"He came at us from behind a crate. Grabbed Shepard by the neck before we could get a clean shot. He's been ranting ever since." She said quickly.

"And I'll snap her neck if you so much as twitch." The krogan barked back. Behind him, Shepard uttered a strained gurgle. "What!" the krogan loosened his grip.

"I said, you talk too much." She drew her pistol and shoved it beneath the krogan's head plate. She fired until the merc crumpled in a heap. Shepard dropped to the floor and gasped for air. She straightened after a wave of coughs and wiped gore from her face.

"Let's wrap this up then." She said.

* * *

><p>Once back on the Normandy, the team split up. Shepard left to contact Nassana Dantius, her neck already showing signs of bruising. She brushed aside any attempt to help aside from a light medigel application. Kaidan had overheated his amp, so he headed to the medbay. Joker had picked something up he thought would interest Liara, while Tali had to run a diagnostic on her suit, which left me alone. I found a secluded spot to begin sifting through the data. A lot of it was just chatter, call logs and invoices from within the slaver ring, but a few files clearly implicated Nassana's involvement. I package those and encrypted the rest. That left the decision of what to do with them. There was always blackmail, but then again Nassana had sent a spectre after the last attempted blackmailer and that was her own sister. After some thought, I decide to turn it over to the authorities. If her business practices on Illium were any indication, the galaxy was better off with her rotting in jail.<p>

I sent a copy of the files to Captain Bailey of C-Sec and the reporter, Emily Wong. That would ensure that something would be done. I closed down the messenger program and broke down my rifle and armour for cleaning. After it shined like new, I left the barracks in search of food.

The mess hall was quieter than usual when I arrived. The crew was huddled around the extranet terminal in the back of the room. I wandered over, but was quickly hushed when I tried to ask what was going on. The terminal was playing a live newscast from the Citadel.

"…lliance reps have not yet made a comment. If you're just joining us, this is Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani, reporting on the sudden disappearance of Alliance Admiral Kahoku. The admiral was last seen this morning on Zakera Ward before departing by unregistered shuttle."

"Wait, the admiral just disappeared?" I asked.

"Just took up and left." Corporal Steiner commented. A cold feeling began to grip at my chest. Had I been too late? "Took his entire flotilla with him."

"Wait, what?"

"He took his flotilla with him, when he left the Citadel. Something about 'not taking these terrorist threats lightly.' He switched off his IFFs past the relay and vanished."

_So he's still alive. But what was going on? He should have gone into hiding._

"Oh."

"Yeah, the turians are furious. They say the Alliance needs to keep a tighter leash on its admirals. The batarians are pretty upset too, since Kahoku's never been there biggest fan. They're worried this is going to end up being retaliation to that attempted takeover of an asteroid over Terra Nova."

"The batarians didn't actually get the asteroid did they?" I asked.

"No," Steiner smiled jaggedly, "someone tipped off the garrison, those terrorists didn't even touch ground."

The terminal was switched over to a sports broadcast and a stack of MRE's were prepared for lunch.

"What do you think set him off?" Jenkins said as he took a seat across from me. "Do you really think he's going after the batarians?"

"I honestly have no clue. Guy was a war hero, right, I don't think he'd have gone rogue without a good reason."

"Maybe, I know I'd be mad after what those batarians pulled though. You know they're saying they wanted to fly that rock into Terra Nova's capital city. It would have killed millions if the garrison wasn't ready for them. If I had a fleet I'd be ready for some payback."

"Well Rick, I guess it's lucky you don't have a fleet." Steiner joked. "We'd be in a different war every other week."

"I think I'm going to see the Doc," I said to no one in particular, "my shoulder's been killing me since that firefight."

"Alright, see you."

* * *

><p>The medlab was almost empty. Kaidan sat on one of the beds with a book in his hands. He nodded in my direction as I walked in. Doctor Chakwas was talking into the intercom.<p>

"No, Commander, you will not 'just be fine' a krogan had you suspended by your neck and Lieutenant Alenko tells me you were already showing signs of severe bruising. Now either you come down here or I come upstairs with a heavy tranquilizer and a shortage of patience." There was a muffled sound from the other end before Shepard spoke.

"Fine, I'll be down once I place a few more calls."

"Good, now you'll have to excuse me, I have someone here." She turned to look at me. "Ah, Deputy Liddle, how can I help you?"

"It's my shoulder, it's been hurting since the mission down on the planet."

"Take a seat, Deputy." Chakwas pulled a handheld scanner from a draw. The thing prickled as she ran it over my shoulder.

"Hmm, you have some minor bruising, probably from recoil of your firearm. You'll be fine, though I have some light painkillers if it's bothering you."

"Thanks Doctor, I'll take the pills."

"It's a shot, actually, a subdermal infusion of dilute medigel which will dull the pain for up to a day. You should be well on the way to healing by then." She pressed her omni-tool into my shoulder and sent a jet of the medicine through my skin. The effect was instantaneous, a spreading patch of coolness that wiped out the ache of the bruises.

"Thanks, Doc." I stretched out the wounded muscles. "Feels good as new."

"Oh, Michael, I did not know you were here. Were you hurt on the mission?" I looked up to see Liara standing in the bay with a thick sheath of papers in her arms.

"Nothing serious, just some bruises. What's that you've got there?"

"Joker found these while we were dealing with those slavers." She said. "If I'm right, these are some of the last writings of the asari matriarch, Dilinaga. The Matriarch and twenty seven of her peers left Thessia at the dawn of our interstellar age, dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge among the stars. To find some of their surviving records is what every asari archaeologist dreams of."

"So how will you be sure? That these are her writings, I mean."

"Well, they will have to be sent back to Thessia for verification, but I want to at least read them first. The secrets they could hold. I don't think I've been this excited since I was a child."

"So these writings, they're pretty important to your people?" Kaidan asked from his bed.

"Yes, I do not know much of Earth history, but imagine a group of your greatest thinkers banded together in the pursuit of knowledge. Over time, many of them left the group, or went missing, but the foremost of them continued writing well into her twilight years. Then imagine centuries later, these writings are found, perfectly preserved. That is what these mean to my people."

"That's… pretty important then." Kaidan agreed. "We'll have to be on the lookout in the future."

"You needn't," Liara said quickly, "My first priority is stopping Saren and Benezia. I couldn't ask for time to be taken from such an important mission, to have found one is reward enough."

"Nevertheless, there's nothing stopping us from keeping an eye out. At this rate we'll have crossed the galaxy twice before this mission's over." I said.

"Only twice? It feels like we've already done that much." A third voice said from the doorway.

"Commander." Kaidan saluted.

"At ease Lieutenant." She gave the biotic a piercing stare. "Sounds like someone's been telling tales."

"I, ma'am…" Kaidan spluttered, "I was just worried and, um, that krogan had you by the neck." His voice faded off.

"I suppose I'll have to let you off this time Alenko." Shepard said in a tone of mock severity. "but thanks for looking out for me."

"Ah, Commander, you actually came down this time. Take a seat." Chakwas had returned from the back office. I shuffled out of the way to let the Commander get settled. "Hmm, yes, textbook constriction. Don't worry Commander; I'll have you good as new in no time."

"Michael, I was wondering if you wanted to talk again, about the Protheans." Liara was speaking to me again.

"Yeah, I'd like that. There are ruins on Feros right? Anything you know could be helpful on the mission."

"Exactly what I was thinking. Come by later, I have a lot of reading to do."

* * *

><p>Dinner that evening was spent relaying the action down on Sharjila to Jenkins and the other marines. Most of them weren't really impressed, they were veterans of far more intense skirmishes, but Jenkins hung on my every word.<p>

"And then what?" he asked as I mentioned the gunshots coming from upstairs.

"Well, then the Lieutenant and I rushed up, guns drawn, ready to face a new enemy. When we got there, this massive krogan had the Commander pinned up against a wall. It's like he had gone mad with rage, he was ranting about how we were the villains. And then, do you know what the Commander did? She says, 'You talk too much,' puts a gun right in his face and pow, drops him."

"Wow." Jenkins, "Have you ever considered writing all this down? You could make a killing with the vids."

"Of course he isn't writing it down. This stuff'll be classified until that asari dies of old age, or the Alliance wants to do a spin job on the First Human Spectre." Steiner interjected.

"You know, you're a real cynic Steiner, you know that." Jenkins replied.

"I fought on Torfan, Jenkins, that'd make a cynic out of even you." The corporal took a bite of a close approximation of mashed potatoes.

"Oh jeez, I didn't know, I'm sorry." Jenkins stumbled about, looking to me for guidance. I had nothing.

"Don't worry, kid, I don't exactly go spreading it around. Look, I don't fault you two your enthusiasm, but you've got to realize war isn't a game you can win or lose; good people are going to die out there." Steiner's normally laid back demeanor was gone. A cold fury echoed from behind her eyes. She finished eating quickly and left for her duty station.

"Do you think I should apologize?" Jenkins asked.

"I think this is something you've just got to let go, man. It's a pretty big sore spot by the looks of things."

"You're probably right."

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

Special Bonus Mass Effect: Interloper DLC! Completely free of charge. Hope you enjoyed this more actiony chapter. I have more in the pipe, so let me know how you liked it.

-Liddle Out


	9. Chapter 9: On Feros, Part I

Interloper: Chapter 9

"Knock knock."

"Come in." I let myself into the small back office of the medbay. The asari archaeologist sat at her desk behind a massive stack of notes.

"Checking your old notes?" I asked. I pulled up a chair next to her. "Here, you weren't at dinner." I handed her a tray of food that I had rescued from the mess hall.

"Oh thank you." Liara said absentmindedly, "and no, these are just the notes I've written today. Matriarch Dilinaga's writing's are quite complex. The introduction alone is… oh, what is this?" she seemed to see the tray I had placed in her hand for the first time.

"I got you some food, you weren't at dinner." I repeated. Liara gave a small laugh.

"I'll admit, sometimes I can get carried away. I would spend days poring over ruins and digs, sometimes I would only eat once a week. I had a VI once that would remind me to take meals on a regular basis, I wonder what happened to that thing." She looked away distractedly.

"Wait, once a week? Is that healthy?"

"We asari can get away with eating very little when we aren't utilizing our biotics. In fact, when Commander Sheppard found me I hadn't eaten in weeks. I was actually convinced the entire team was an elaborate hallucination." She shuffled papers around to make space for the tray. She took a bite and said, "You wanted to hear about Feros."

"Yes, I know it's got some ruins and a small human colony, but that's about all."

"Not just some ruins… an entire Prothean megapolis…. Stretching up out of the clouds." She said between bites. "I haven't been myself, the Exo-Geni Corporation only allows human archaeologists permits to search the ruins."

"Exo-Geni runs the colony?"

"Yes, they funded the venture for the purpose of medical research. Personally I think they're tragically misusing their resources…"

* * *

><p>From space, Feros just looked like a grey, soupy mass. It wasn't until we began our descent that the true scale became apparent. Tall towers rose out of the grey like broken teeth. Several Geth ships hung over some of the higher and more stable looking towers.<p>

"They can't see us, can they?" I asked.

"Our stealth systems are engaged, we should be able to fly right under their radar." Joker replied. He took the Normandy into a steep dive towards the nearest tower. "You better suit up, the docking cradle's in sight." I ran back towards the stairs. Steiner joined me at a light jog.

"You ready for some real fighting, Liddle?" I nodded. "Don't get yourself killed."

We split up at the elevator. She continued down, while I went for my locker. I suited up quickly. The ceramic plates were getting easier to carry around.

"Looking good, Deputy." Commander Shepard past on her way to her own locker. She pulled out her own, slate grey armour and shrugged it on.

"Thanks, am I driving today?"

"That's a negative, we're going in on foot." She checked her rifle's ammo block and folded it onto her back. "Let's go." I fell into step behind her. The cargo hold was crowded. On one side, Kaidan and the other marines stood at loose attention. On the other side, Wrex, Garrus, Ashley, and Tali stood talking. Ashley looked a little uncomfortable.

"Everyone gather around, listen up. We haven't heard anything from the colonists, so we have to assume a hostile presence in the tower. Kaidan, you're going to take your marines down the ramp and sweep the lower levels. I'll take my squad out the airlock and take the upper levels. We meet at the colony; it'll be marked on all of your HUDs. Any questions?"

"No, ma'am!" Kaidan barked smartly.

"Good, move out." Shepard snapped on her helmet and motioned for us to follow. Behind us the marines rushed out down the ramp and into the city. It was a tight squeeze onto the elevator and a tighter fit in the airlock. We disembarked into a firestorm.

"Geth, take cover!" Ashley yelled. We all dove in different directions. I found myself behind a crumbling wall. A quick peek told me none of the Geth were looking at me. I fired a burst at the closest platform. None of my shots landed, but it distracted the Geth long enough for Garrus to get a shot on it. The Geth went over a rail and into the clouds below.

"Push up!" Shepard yelled. I came up to a knee and fired a longer burst, this time actually pitching a platform over. The overheat light flashed on my HUD a second before the gun stopped firing. My hand stung as the rifle vented, but I pushed it aside and rushed to the next piece of cover. Ashley fell in on my right, and Garrus landed on my left.

"Liddle, you see that column at the end of the bridge?" Ashley pointed to a shattered pillar of rock.

"Yeah? What about it?" I joined Garrus in putting down another platform.

"I'm going to rush it, try and set up defilade on the Geth across the way. I need you to cover me." She spun one of her grenades into a cluster of Geth.

"You got it, Chief!" I leaned out of cover and sprayed down the remainder of the attackers. Ashley charged the pillar. A tall, red armoured Geth charged out of the mist ahead of her. "Watch out! Juggernaut!" Ashley stopped short of the cover and tried to backpedal. The Juggernaut unleashed a torrent of tungsten. The bright-glowing rounds tore through the marine's shields and blew a hole in the pink-white armour of her midsection. Ashley went down hard.

"Focus fire on that one!" Shepard yelled. Our rounds skittered and bounced off the Geth's powerful shields. It advanced slowly, firing continuously. As it passed Ashley's still form, her arm jerked up. In her hand was a grenade. She slapped the disk onto the Geth's leg. The Geth continued to advance on us. "Garrus, you need to detonate that explosive!"

"I'm pinned down, Commander!" Garrus yelled back. I opened my Omni-tool, scrolling through the options, I had to have something.

_Sabotage, that should work_.

I extended the tool and launched the program. The Geth's gun hissed as it vented its heat sink. "Garrus, now!" the turian threw himself over the block and drew his sniper rifle. He scoped in and pulled the trigger. The Juggernaut's leg erupted in fire. The massive Geth platform toppled and crashed down in ruin. "Clear!" we rushed forward to where Ashley lay. The marine was drawing shuddering breaths.

"Ash, you got him, just hold on!" Shepard leant over the wounded soldier and pumped medigel into the wound. A look of peace crossed her face.

"I took a pretty bad hit back there, hey skipper?" Ashley said in a pained voice.

"Hold still, Ash, we'll get you out of here." Shepard put a hand under the Chief's head.

"Vitals are stabilizing, Commander." Tali had her Omni-tool out, "But I don't think we should move her."

"Just leave me here," Ash said, "the Normandy's just over there, I'll call the Doc. These colonists need you."

"She's right, Commander." Garrus added.

"Okay," Shepard said reluctantly, "You take care of yourself, Chief." She stood and looked the rest of us over. "We're down one member, and the resistance is stiffer than we thought. These colonists still need our help. Now we're going to make a push up to the higher levels, I need you to stay smart, we can't afford any more casualties. Let's do this."

"Just point me at the action." Wrex thumped his chest. The rest of us just nodded. We moved up the ramp, leaving Ashley propped up against a pillar. We moved through the ruins quickly, going in pairs from cover to cover. We didn't see any more Geth until we walked out into an open space.

"What are you doing? Get under cover!" ahead of us some of the colonists were hiding behind stacks of crates and metal heat shielding. Behind us the buzzing rattle of more Geth platforms was already getting louder.

"Turn and give fire!" Shepard ordered, "break and take cover with the colonists once the first wave goes down!"

As one we turned and dropped. I picked a Geth at the edge of the pack. The platform blew apart under a long burst.

"Break!" we ran back to the colonist's line. Behind us, I heard the whirr of Geth combat drones. Brocken masonry chips began to bite at my heels as near misses rained down around me. The colonists managed to take out the drones with their collection of pistols, but more foot platforms had shown up. I vaulted the nearest stack of crates and found myself face to face with a surly faced man. He nodded gruffly and fired over the barrier. I followed suit, picking off one of the few remaining Geth.

"Looks like you got 'em all. You should head back and talk to Fai Dan, he's what passes for leadership around here." One of the defenders said.

"Okay. Garrus, you stay here and secure this approach. Tali, I want you talking to the colonists, find out what they need. Liddle, you're with me."

"And me?" Wrex asked.

"I want to you to walk the perimeter, shoot anything with a flashlight head."

"With pleasure." The krogan ambled away. Shepard set a brisk pace through the colony. I followed closely, eyes peeled.

"Lieutenant Alenko, what's your situation?" Shepard was talking into her radio.

"It's not good, Commander," Kaidan replied over the net, "The Geth are putting up a stiff resistance. We lost Kowalski."

"The Geth?" Shepard asked.

"No, this huge Varren came at us out of one of the side passages. We managed to put it down, but Kowalski's gone, ma'am."

"Shit. What's your current position?"

"We've hunkered down outside the doors up into the tower. We're locked out from here, Jenkins just went up into the venting to try and run a manual bypass."

"We're in the colony itself, keep us posted on your progress."

"Will do, Commander." The scenario worried me a bit. I recalled a similar situation in which a non-tech was asked to crawl through a vent to open a door. At the end of the colony, a severe looking woman with close-cropped black hair stood arguing with an older man. The two stopped as we approached.

"Who the hell are you?" the woman didn't look too impressed.

"I'm Commander Shepard, Alliance Military. We're here to help." Shepard extended a hand. The man accepted it gratefully.

"You're the reinforcements? I thought there'd be more of you." He voice was slightly distant, like he was focusing on something else. "I'm sorry, where are my manners, I'm Fai Dan. I pass for a leader around here."

"I have a team of marines sweeping the lower levels as we speak, and my own squad is holding on the far side of the colony." Sheppard said diplomatically. "Do you know why the Geth are here?"

"You'd have to ask the people over at the Exo-Geni headquarters. They have all the cool toys, and most of the Geth who aren't here are there."

"How do we get to there?" Shepard asked, checking the surroundings.

"There's an elevator in the next tower that'll take you to the old Prothean skyway. I think a few Grizzlies should still be operational. But the next tower is still full of Geth."

"Alright, we'll clear out the next tower when we're ready to move. For now the Geth seem to be holding off. We'll secure the colony before we move on."

"Thank you, Commander." Fai Dan said. We walked back towards the colony. Sheppard looked out across the cloudscape. In the distance, one of the ruined spires collapsed under the weight of time and stray anti-aircraft rounds.

"Michael?" Liara's voice filled my helmet. Shepard didn't seem to have heard. I switched my radio over to private.

"Liara, what can I do for you?"

"Chief Williams just got back, Doctor Chakwas says things were close, but she will recover."

"That's good to hear," I replied, "do you want me to tell the Commander for you?" _What was she playing at?_

"Actually," Liara said hesitantly, "I was hoping you would ask the Commander to authorize me to help… secure the colony."

"So you want to sneak off and look at the ruins?" There was a long silence.

"You're not going to tell on me are you?" Liara asked.

"Of course not. I'll ask the Commander, but couldn't you ask her? She's pretty reasonable."

"I… I don't know how much she trusts me, but you seem pretty close to her. Let me know when you've talked to her." The connection closed.

"There a conversation going on in there, Deputy?" Shepard was actually waving to get my attention. "Hello?"

"Sorry, Commander. Liara wants to help secure the colony grounds, and Chief Williams has been recovered. Doc says she'll pull through."

"That's good news," Shepard said, "and we need all hands on deck here; these colonists are stretched pretty thin. Have you noticed how spaced out they seem?"

"Yes…"

"Commander." Tali had walked up. "These people are in trouble. They are running low on water, food, and power. Now, they used t hunt varren for food, but this big alpha moved in a few weeks ago."

"Didn't Kaidan and his team run into a big varren?" I said

"Right," Tali said, "they also say that their water is routed through the tunnels the Lieutenant and his team is in."

"What about the power needs?" Shepard asked.

"They don't know, Commander, they say they could have repaired their power systems with some vehicle power cells if we'd shown up a week ago, but they took another hit recently that knocked out they're generators completely."

"Keep at it, Tali, I'm sure you'll find something. Liddle, I want you walking perimeter too, at least until we've found some way to get the power on. I don't want to leave these colonists until we've secured a better fallback position."

"Yes, ma'am." I saluted and walked away. Shepard contacted Alenko to get him to look out for damaged water conduits, while I let Liara know she could come along. I passed Wrex moving in the other direction. We exchanged curt nods. After circling around a second time, something caught my eye. I thumbed on my radio.

"Commander, I've found something you might want to take a look at."

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

You guys have been great; I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I do writing it. To answer a few questions:

Liegelord: Jacob is still a Corsair at this point, so it is indeed possible he'll be able to go check up on the report.

Rc1212: Infamous, I don't know about that? The name yellowjacket might cross a few desks in the info business before the story's done.


	10. Chapter 10: On Feros, Part II

Interloper: Chapter 10

"What am I looking at, Liddle?" the squad had gathered around the wall I had spotted. The faded shape of a Prothean sigil was barely visible about halfway up.

"This symbol, right here, is the Prothean sign for power. They used it to mark conduits in their planetwide power grids. We should be able to knock through this wall and interface directly."

"Wait, how do you know all this? And the Protheans have been gone for 50,000 years, what makes you so sure there'll still be power?" Tali asked.

"Well, the Prothean power systems were incredibly robust, and the grid connects to power storage devices all over the city. As long as the Protheans didn't leave the light on when they left, even the dregs should be enough to run a colony this size. And as to how I know, Liara briefed me on the ruins last night."

"Miss O'Connell, if we do find power in this grid, will you be able to run your colony off of it?" Shepard asked the colony's engineer.

"Well, power is power. If we are able to draw anything, it should just be a case of rigging up the right transformer. I can build one from parts aboard the Borealis." She nodded towards the downed freighter in the background.

"Alright then, Wrex, take down the wall."

"With pleasure." The krogan blasted the wall with his shotgun. Chunks of rock and dust fell in a plume. Behind the jagged fissure lay a branch of frayed cables and more Prothean writing.

"What does this say?" O'Connell asked as she ran an Omni-tool over the cables.

"No clue." I squinted at the darkened script.

"You said…" Tali began.

"I got a briefing, the language is a little too complex to just pick up in an evening. Archaeologists just found the first symbol near conduits and put two and two together."

"Whatever it says, there's a power signature here; I'll start to run wires as soon as I can."

"Good, we should be set to move out then." Shepard turned to face us. "Kaidan, what's your situation?" the voice of the biotic was masked by gunfire.

"Jenkins got the door open, but he took a shot. He should be fine though, he applied medigel and is mobile. We found a pocket of Geth and a few krogan down here guarding a transmitter of some kind. We're attempting to gain access."

"Okay, be careful down there Lieutenant. Once you've taken the transmitter, shut it down and pull back up to the Zhu's Hope outpost and await further orders.

"Yes, ma'am!"

* * *

><p>The group assembled at the ramp into the tower. Wrex and Garrus took up the front, rifles readied. Shepard took up the center, with Tali and me flanking. At Shepard's signal, we rushed into the tower. We didn't see any Geth until we reached the first stairwell.<p>

"Rocket!" Garrus yelled as he dodged out of the way of the projectile. We dove for cover and came up firing. Geth troopers poured out of the passage below us. Our height advantage allowed Shepard and Wrex to drop grenades amongst the enemy, blowing up several before they had the chance to respond. My rifle vented again, a rookie mistake. I drew my pistol and fired twice. Both shots missed. The Geth began to fall back towards the elevator.

"Don't let them get away!" Shepard yelled, advancing and firing. Wrex leapt up from cover and charged the retreating synthetics. Rounds broke down his shields and scoured his armour. He hit the disorganized Geth like a train, tossing them aside. In the back of the group, a larger platform stood its ground. The two titans clashed, each trading blows at close range. When the dust settled, Wrex was holding the Geth's head over his own. He tossed the broken piece down with a look of disgust.

"That was barely worth the fight." He said, "Let's find another one of those big ones."

The garage was deserted. Broken vehicles were piled up at one end. In the center, an intact looking Grizzly stood alone.

"This looks like our ride." Shepard said. "Tali, check the engine. Liddle, the controls. We pile in as soon as it checks out." I hauled myself up and through the driver's hatch. The cockpit was roomier than the Mako's, though it was separated from the crew compartment by a bulkhead. The controls were dark until there was a thump in the back of the vehicle. The panels flickered on. I checked the usual spots; the panel was laid out much like the Mako. Everything showed green.

"Commander, looks like we're good to go."

"Head out then, we've managed to patch into the Exo-Geni comm. systems. There's a group of scientists, civilians, and security personnel holed up about halfway to the headquarters building. Be aware, we're also tracking several Geth dropships."

"I can see them." I replied, bringing up the HUD. "Moving out." The Grizzly rumbled as I brought up the speed. Ahead of us the garage door opened onto the skyway. Wind whistled through the bridge and over the hull. Red blips began to show up on the radar. The gun atop the tank spat fire at the approaching machines while I focused on dodging and staying in cover. Progress was slow as we frequently had to go hull down to avoid the pulse of an armature or rocket trooper. At about the halfway point, a shadow fell across the highway.

"We've got a dropship coming in right behind us!" Garrus yelled. The siege pulses started falling faster and closer. The ruined road didn't give me much room to maneuver, but the outpost was in sight. I slammed my foot down as far as it would go. The Grizzly bucked and growled as it shot forward. On the main gun, Garrus laid down a pattern of fire. The dropship's shields flashed as the rounds impacted, but the dropship showed no signs of slowing down. The crunching of debris, the pounding of the Geth weapons on our shields, and the steady thump of Garrus' return fire all seemed to blend together as a distant noise. My focus was set entirely on the low opening of the outpost. Behind me the Grizzly's engine whined as it reached its limits. And then we were shooting through a tunnel. I slammed on the breaks before we could exit the over side. In a horrible, gut-wrenching moment, the tank began to tip sideways. The scene moved slowly in my mind as I lost control. The world came crashing back as the vehicle slammed against a guardrail. The kinetic barriers shattered, but the hull held strong.

"Everyone okay?" I asked. Nothing. I pulled my helmet off. The transmitter on the outside had been smashed in the crash. "Great." I banged on the bulkhead. Someone knocked back. _Someone's alive at least._ I grabbed my rifle and popped the hatch. No Geth seemed to have followed us in. The troop door opened and spilled the rest of the team out onto the stone.

"Let's… never do that again." Shepard winced and clutched her side. The dropship flew off into the distance. "Nice driving, Liddle. You and Tali look over the Grizzly, check for damage. Garrus, watch them. Wrex, come with me." The Commander made for the ramp down to the outpost. The Grizzly's on board spares and our Omni-tools made short work of the damage we had taken. By the time we were done, Shepard had returned.

"Exo-Geni has this place secured; we need to move on to their headquarters. Apparently one of the bigger Geth ships has latched itself onto the side of the tower. I'm thinking if we can destroy that ship, we can drive away the Geth."

"The Grizzly's ready." I said. "We're ready to go when you are."

"Let's go."

Our old friend the dropship returned as we left the outpost. This time it hung back and dropped another wave of Geth in our path. Garrus focused on putting shots into the dropship, leaving me to dodge around the ground forces. The sky was momentarily whited out as a well placed shot pierced the dropship's armour. The skyway seemed to ripple under the pressure of the explosion. The Geth ahead of us were flattened to the deck. We zoomed past the roadblocks and into the headquarters building. We disembarked into an empty lobby.

"Fan out, keep an eye out for the Geth." Shepard ordered. The five of us picked our way over the rubble towards the front entrance to the Exo-Geni building.

"You hear that?" Garrus asked.

"You mean the high pitched buzzing?" I asked. The barriers the Geth had cast across the door were putting out a steady hum as dust fizzled against it.

"No, that rhythmic thumping, it sounds close."

"Keep it down, people." Shepard said. I could hear the noise now too. The wall to the right of us erupted outwards to reveal a crouching Geth armature. "Scatter!" The armature slowly unfolded itself; its eye panned the room looking for targets. I threw myself to the ground and fired at the four legged tank. The lobby filled with criss-crossing fire. The armature's shields sparked as dozens of rounds skittered across them. The platform's head swiveled in my direction. Its machine guns flared. I threw myself sideways, narrowly avoiding the trail of ricochets.

"I'm attempting to overload its shields." Tali cried. The armature was wreathed in electricity. "Hit it now."

"Switch to penetrators!" Shepard ordered. I fumbled in a back pouch for the solid block of tungsten that fit my rifle. I stabbed at the switch that opened the gun. I shoved home the tungsten and snapped the rifle closed. The team pumped penetrator rounds through the armature's weakened shields. The armoured shell started to crack under the barrage. Eventually, the armature collapsed, broken.

"Team, report!"

"I'm alive." I pushed myself to my feet. The rest of the team reported in. and gathered together.

"It would appear these Geth really don't want anyone gaining access to this tower." Garrus noted. "These doors are shielded, probably emitted by the ship latched onto the side of the tower. We're not getting in that way."

"We'll have to go under it." Shepard walked over to the entrance to a tunnel full of pipes.

"Where does this go?" Garrus asked.

"It looks like it runs under the entire Exo-Geni complex. There's an opening a couple of meters in that should lead to a stairwell into the building." Tali had a map up on her Omni-tool.

"Are you sure?" Garrus asked, "Once we drop down there, there's no climbing back out."

"I'm sure." Responded Tali.

"Wrex, take point." Shepard ordered. The krogan grunted and dropped off the edge with a crunch. He shuffled about in the darkness before calling back up to us.

"It's clear, I can see the quarian's opening from here." Shepard went next, followed by Garrus and Tali. I took one last look around the lobby before dropping into the tunnel. The ground was further than it looked and I missed my footing. Tali caught me by the arm before I fell face first in the dust.

"Thanks." I dusted myself off. The group set off down the tunnel in a loose formation, moving from cover to cover. Shepard was the first into the opening. A shot rang out ahead of us, bouncing harmlessly off her shields.

"Dammit! I'm so sorry. I thought you were Geth, or one of those Varren." A young woman in a light green uniform moved out of a corner holding a pistol. Shepard lowered her own pistol and made a comforting gesture.

"It's okay, we're here to help. What are you doing here?"

"It's my own fault; I stayed to back up data. Then, all of a sudden the Geth showed up and the power went out. I've been stuck down here since then." The woman, Lizbeth Baynham if I remembered correctly, holstered her weapon.

"We can fight our way through the Geth if we need to." Shepard assured her.

"It's not the Geth that are the problem; that ship is putting up some kind of barrier. Unless you can shut it off we're stuck down here."

"Why are the Geth here in the first place?" Wrex asked. "What would they want with medical research?" Lisbeth looked down at her feet, obviously uncomfortable.

"I don't know for certain, but they're probably after the Thorian."

"Thorian? What is that exactly?" Tali asked.

"It's an indigenous lifeform; Exo-Geni was studying it."

"What more can you tell us?" Shepard asked. I lost track of the conversation at that point. I had already heard the entire situation relayed to me far too many times. Big Plant, mind control, asari clone. That last point stuck in my head. Feros meant finding the cipher, and the cipher meant another week in the medbay. I really didn't want more time lying around, especially with so many on the team dealing with actual wounds. The cipher would be the last piece of the puzzle though. A plan formed in my brain. If I received the cipher, it would point to Ilos. If I could convince Liara to corroborate my vision, we could head straight there, way ahead of Saren. We could skip Virmire, maybe even take Sovereign down before he alerted the other Reapers. One more vision, and I could save so many lives.

_Fine, one more time._

* * *

><p>Author's Notes:<p>

With all the reviews I've been getting, I think the Saturday update is going to be a regular thing from now on. I'll keep posting on the Monday and Thursday too, so keep checking back.

Captain Kurt Hoffman: This fic will indeed span all three games.


	11. Chapter 11: On Feros, Part III

Interloper: Chapter 11

"You coming, Liddle?" I snapped back to the present. The team was already readying to ascend into the tower.

"Oh, yeah." I hurried to catch up. The broken stairwell echoed with our footsteps, and with a gruff voice from the top of the stairs.

"Sounds krogan." Wrex said.

_A battlemaster, looks like we're going to have our work cut out for us._

As we drew closer, the voice became more distinct. It angrily conversed with an Exo-Geni VI. Shepard held up a fist, signaling us to stop and drop. We crept forward. The krogan must have heard us, because he whirled and drew his shotgun.

"You." He smiled cruelly. "I know you, Urdnot Wrex. I will be honored on Tuchanka when I bring back your head."

"Hah, you think that scares me? I've faced salarians more intimidating. Go on without me, Shepard, looks like I have to teach this whelp what makes a real krogan battlemaster." Wrex drew his own shotgun and fired. Both krogan flared brightly with biotics and charged at each other. The ensuing duel crushed the VI terminal.

"Come on! We need to find another terminal!" Shepard ordered. We sprinted past the grappling krogan. Ahead of us, more Geth began to rush out into the hallway. They went down under the torrent of superheated tungsten.

"Commander, in here." Tali ducked into a side room ahead of us.

"Garrus, Liddle, hold this passage." Shepard rushed in after her. Garrus and I took up positions on either side of the door.

"More action than you saw at C-Sec, eh Garrus?" I called over as I hosed down another Geth.

"Yeah, and you, bet you didn't see this much action in the militia." He put a shot through a Geth's head. Inside the room I heard Shepard question the VI about the Thorian. She didn't sound happy about the fact that Exo-Geni were letting the plant creature take control of the colonists. The last of the Geth went down as the Commander emerged.

"We need to get out of here, now." She said darkly. "The Thorian's an alien, Exo-Geni found it under the colony. There's a good chance the colonists are under its control."

"Shouldn't we warn the marines?" I asked. A firefight with the controlled colonists would end in a bloodbath.

"We can't, not with the shield up. We need to take that ship down. Any ideas?"

When no one else spoke up, I suggested, "We could take out the legs. If we can dislodge enough, gravity can do the rest for us."

"Good thinking, Tali, pull up your map and plot a route that skirts the perimeter of the tower. Garrus move ahead and scout out the passage. Wrex…" from behind us the sounds of fighting still echoed up the stairs. "Never mind, everyone, move out." We moved through the empty hallways towards the outer layer of the tower. The first leg of the Geth ship was thrust through the ceiling of a large junction. We dismissed it as too secure and moved on.

"Hold up." Shepard ducked out of the passage we had been walking down. "There's a claw here. It's projecting some kind of image."

"Any Geth?" Garrus asked.

"Yes, looks like they're… praying." Shepard inched into the room some more. "Whatever they're doing, they're distracted. On three we're going to hit them with everything we've got. Ready?" we nodded and each took aim at a different platform. After Shepard counted down on her fingers, we unleashed a flurry that took down the Geth before they could even raise their kinetic barriers.

"Do you think we can take out this leg, Commander?" Garrus craned his neck to get a better look.

"No, I think this one's thicker than the last one. We need to keep moving." The next room was more promising. From Tali's map, we had doubled almost back on ourselves. The front entrance was visible from the doorway, as were two rocket troopers and a Geth destroyer. The massive construct stood in front of a large control panel.

"Room's kind of open, and I don't like the look of those ones with the rockets. What's our next move, Commander?" Garrus scoped out the room through his sniper rifle.

"Here's how we do this. Garrus, you and Tali are going to sneak in, take a flanking position up on that ledge. You'll provide support as Liddle and I hit them from down here. Now, we're not just going to storm into the room, we'll draw then back through this door and use it as a bottleneck while drawing them into defilade."

"Okay, but what's to stop us from being surrounded?" Garrus asked

"Kill them fast, and that won't be a problem, we do this fast and get back to the Normandy. Now get up there, we'll cover you." Garrus and Tali moved swiftly up to they're positions. After we received their go signal, we hit the nearest Geth. The first one shattered as rounds crashed into it. Shepard and I gave ground steadily and the Geth obligingly followed. Once we had retreated past the door, the flankers popped out of cover and threw grenades into their path. The red-violet explosions of incendiary grenades showered the Geth with burning gel. The troopers went down, leaving only the heavy weapons platforms and the destroyer. The destroyer turned to focus on Garrus, giving Shepard the chance to hit it in the side. One of its arms fell uselessly away. I used the breach to fire another shot of the incendiary paste from my Omni-tool. The destroyer glowed dully from the inside briefly before the entire platform darkened and fell.

"Advance!" Shepard yelled. We moved in and kept the Geth under fire. Garrus and Tali were able to finish the final Geth off. "Clear the room, I want terminals checked for intel and any useful munitions salvaged for use." We split up to search the room. After unlocking a crate with one of my bypass programs I pulled out a folded shotgun, still in its factory packaging. It had a glossy red finish and the word "Savage" stenciled down the side. I ripped off the packaging and stowed it at the small of my back. Behind me, an almighty crunch signaled the destruction of the ship's leg. Tali was standing in front of the control panel, apparently quite shocked. Behind the now closed shuttlebay doors, the squealing of the falling ship could be heard fading into the distance. The barriers on the doors fizzled out of existence.

"Good work, Tali, let's get out of here." Shepard said as she shut down her Omni-tool.

"Um, Commander, aren't we forgetting something." I asked. At that moment, a bloodied Wrex and a terrified looking Lisbeth walked through the door.

"Sorry it took so long, Commander, I nearly had to drag this one through the wreakage." The woman just stood and stared wide eyed, too shocked for words.

"Just get her to the Grizzly." Shepard responded. The Grizzly was parked right where we left it. I stowed my rifle and the new shotgun overhead as I clambered into the driver's seat. There was a knock on the bulkhead to signify everyone was loaded and we were off. The skyway was clear of Geth as we rolled along it. A though struck me as we neared the weigh station Exo-Geni had fortified. I ran my Omni-tool over my battered helmet, selecting a repair program. After the ping signified it had finished, I shoved the helmet roughly onto my head. The radio was still staticky, but at least understandable. Kaidan's voise drifted through the noise.

"…colonists, looks like they've gone mad. We've fallen back to the Normandy." Shepards voice replied, also grainy.

"Any casualties? Is Doctor T'Soni with you?"

"Negative, Commander. All the men made the evac, but Dr. T'Soni is still trapped inside the colony. We made sure not to injure any of the colonists."

"Shit. Stay put, we'll drop of our passenger with the rest of the company and head straight to the colony."

"Okay, Shepard, Commander." Kaidan cut his communication.

"You get all that, Liddle?" _I certainly did, looks like someone has a crush_

"Uh, yeah, Commander, loud and well, loud anyway."

"Wait, you can't." that was Lizbeth's voice.

"Excuse me." Shepard retorted bluntly.

"The colonists, they're being controlled. We have a modification for your grenade launchers, one that will release a non-lethal gas. Please don't shoot them, they're not to blame."

"I never intended to shoot anyone. Do you have the mods here?"

"Yes, but I only have enough for three."

"Okay, Wrex and I will take one, Garrus, how are you with a grenade?"

"Best arm in my C-Sec class."

"You take one too then. Liddle, Tali, you hang back for this one okay?" She shifted channels. "Dr. T'Soni, this is Commander Shepard, are you okay." The other end of the line was crackly and distorted. The sound of the possessed colonists yelling in the background formed an eerie choir.

"Yes, I am here! The colonists, goddess, they've gone mad." Liara sounded panicky and breathless.

"Slow down Liara, we're coming to get you. Can you tell us where you are?"

"I am in a part of the ship. I have but up biotic barriers on the entrance, but I'm not sure how long I can hold it. And Shepard, there is a malevolent presence here."

"We know, there's an alien lifeform called a Thorian. That's what's controlling the colonists. Just hold on." I stepped on the gas. We stopped briefly to let out the distressed scientist out, and then continued on. In front of the garage doorway, the corrupted forms of Thorian creepers turned to face us.

"Commander?"

"Too far gone." Was the short reply. The creepers became a greasy stain on the road. We exited quickly. With a few hand signals, half of which I understood, the Commander ordered us forward. The gates ground open, exposing us to two of the colonist's fire. Tali and I dodged ahead while Garrus placed a careful throw. The cloud of green gas knocked the colonists off their feet. More creepers poured from the colony. Tali and I returned fire with shotguns, shredding the plantlike beings. The Savage had more of a kick than I anticipated, banging into the old bruises in my shoulder. I tucked it in tighter as I fired. Now in the colony proper, more of the controlled humans began shooting at us. We ducked and weaved through cover. The occasional shot would peg us, but the cover offered a chance to recharge before moving on. Shepard and Wrex both threw more grenades, knocking out another cluster of colonists. I made for the ship and blasted another creeper. The door to the Borealis was open. I ran through and faceplanted on a biotic barrier.

"I'm sorry." Liara dropped the barrier and ran over to help pick me up off the floor. She had donned a suit of black and yellow armour from somewhere.

"Not a problem," I pulled the abused helmet from my head and dabbed at the blood that had started to drip from my nose, "teaches me to run blindly through doors." Outside the ship the sounds of battle quieted. Now only two voices yelled back and forth. We ran to take a look just in time to see Fai Dan blow his brains out.

"Keelah."

"He fought its control, even to the end." Shepard said solemnly.

"Did he mention where the Thorian was hiding out." I asked cautiously. Shepard nodded and moved over to the crane.

"They hid it under the ship." She pressed a few buttons, lifting a section of the Borealis and exposing a dank tunnel. "Let's take this thing down." The dark edge was back in her voice.

* * *

><p>The tunnel got steadily more unpleasant the further in we went. The smell of rotting vegetation and stale air grew worse with every step.<p>

"Interesting, the walls appear to be formed from some synthesis of natural rock and an aluminum alloy." Tali scanned the walls as we walked.

"What does that mean to us?" Shepard asked.

"It means we'll be out of communication for a while."

"Quiet." Shepard peered down the passage. "Looks like we're here." The passage widened to a round pit. Ahead of us the distended face of the Thorian hung from its many vines."

"Hey Shepard, this thing looks uglier than you." Wrex chuckled. The Thorian began to convulse.

"Looks like you pissed it off." Garrus said. From the tendrils at the front of the Thorian burst the green skinned asari commando.

"Invaders! Your every step is a transgression. One thousand feelers appraise you as meat, good only to dig, or decompose."

"Certainly got a flair for the dramatic." Garrus commented.

"I speak for the Old Growth as I did for Saren. You are within and before the Thorian. It commands you to be in awe."

"You gave something to Saren, something I need." Shepard said

"Saren sought knowledge of those who are gone. He offered a trade, but the cold ones began killing the flesh. The Old Growth sees the air you push as lies!"

"You will release the colonists now." Shepard spoke calmly yet sternly. "And give us the information you gave Saren."

"No, the Old Growth will listen to flesh no longer. Die and feed the Thorian!" the asari threw up her hands and the shimmer of biotics arced through the space between us. The team dodged to both sides. My skin prickled and I felt lighter on my feet.

"Oh crap." I was knocked off my feet and against the far wall. I saw stars as my head impacted on the rock face. Blinking through the dancing lights, I saw a group of creepers descend from a ramp. Around me the team fired at the asari, not seeing the new threat. I slapped around my armor trying to find the anti-personnel ammo block. In my haste to slap it into my lancer, the top half of the gun slid off the firing block. A creeper landed on top of me and attempted to claw at me. I managed to grab the thing by its rubbery arms and get a hand around its neck. The creeper spat at me, the viscous goo spitting and burning at my suit. Holding it back with one hand, I drew my pistol and fired into its gut. The creeper screamed and wriggled away. I put another round through its head and it lay still.

"We need to take that thing down, Liddle, move up that ramp and take out the tendrils!" Commander Shepard fired at a new asari clone. "Get up that ramp, we'll hold them here." I nodded blearily and raced up the ramp. The first tendril came into view. I pulled a trio of grenades from my launcher and whipped them at the tendril. The grenades tore into the thick root and exploded, tearing it to shreds. The Thorian let out a deep roar. More creepers began to pop out of the viney walls. I fired blindly and ran past. I slapped a fabbed trip mine on the entrance to the next ramp as I passed. The explosion came scant second after I had climbed the ramp. I was starting to panic. I only had a few more grenades and the sounds of fighting downstairs weren't getting any quieter. I blew two more tendrils with the last of my explosives. Each time elicited a more desperate howl. I now stood eye to eye with the last tendril. I extended my arm to launch a fabbed explosive at it, but all I received was an 'out of materials' warning. I hurriedly scrolled the menu I'd set up for quick access on my Omni-tool, but all of the useful programs needed the pack of ceramics, metals, and composites that every soldier carried in reserve. _Metals…_ I scooped up a chunk of debris from the floor and hoped. The Omni-tool's mass effect fields bussed to life and began breaking down the rock. After a brief fabber cycle, I extended it once more and launched a small thermite bomb at the last root. It flashed bright white and burned. The Thorian gave a last gurgling wail and tore loose from the wall, crashing to the distant floor. I sank to my knees in relief.

"You, you have released me." I turned to face the cloned asari. "Please, I…"

"Look, I've just been through a lot, you've got the Prothean Cipher, right?" the asari looked taken aback. "How did you know?"

"Look, it's not important, what is important is that we are here to fight Saren, your old boss. So download this Cipher thing into my head and have done with it." I rose wearily to my feet. The day had been long and I wasn't looking forward to the inside of the medbay.

"Very well, I do not understand how you know of this, but if there is any way to redeem the things that I have done under the dominion of Saren, I will do it. Prepare yourself." The asari's eyes grew wide and black. "Embrace Eternity!" I felt the sudden presence on my mind, and then the visions returned. It was strange, the visions were exactly the same, only this time I felt that they all made sense, as if they had always made sense. As the visions faded away, a sudden weakness overtook me. Behind us, the tromping of boots on stone signaled the arrival of Commander Shepard. I tottered as I tried to face them.

"I… I did it again, Comm…" I managed to murmur before completely passing out.


	12. Chapter 12: Brain Case

Interloper: Chapter 12

"He's coming around."

"Give him some room."

"Liddle, can you hear me?"

My eyes fluttered open to find Chakwas and Shepard looking down at me. Behind them, the familiar ceiling of the Normandy medbay glinted dully. My head was pounding worse than ever. The visions floated just behind my eyes, buzzing and clicking like insects.

"Liddle, I'm afraid you've lost another week. We had to put you in a medically induced coma to prevent further neural damage." Chakwas spoke cautiously, as if to avoid panicking me. _Another week, and further brain damage?_

"What's going on?" I managed.

"We're en-route to the Citadel. We've been keeping you under since Feros, but we think we've found a way to prevent the Cipher from permanently damaging your mind. There's a procedure, we normally reserve it for patients with extreme dissociative disorders, which blocks disruptive signals within the brain. It involves an implant based of greybox technology called a Neural Shroud. We've made contact with a doctor on the Citadel willing to help us with the procedure who we've worked with before. However, it is my duty as a medical professional to warn you that the procedure is dangerous, sometimes fatal."

"I think I'd rather chance it than go slowly insane." I croaked

"We thought as much." Shepard gave a guarded smile. "We woke you up because Liara thinks she can use her biotics to improve your chances of survival, something about aligning thought patterns. I'm not going to confine you to the medbay during our trip, but you're in bad shape, I wouldn't recommend moving about too much."

"Thanks, Commander, seems like I've spent more time here than anywhere else on the ship." I tried to smile back, but it only made the headache worse.

"I'm going to give you something for the pain." Chakwas said. "I suggest you rest up, Dr. T'Soni will be around once I'm done here." The doctor administered the drugs and dimmed the lights, which seemed to help a little. Then she left me alone to see to other patients. From what I overheard, Ashley was still in the infirmary, as were a few of the unluckier marines. I was surprised to hear Jenkins' voice somewhere off to the side. He was reading poetry out loud in a hushed voice.

"Michael." I moved my head enough to bring Liara's face into view. The usual placid features were etched with worry and agitation.

"Hey, Liara. How's it going?"

"I should be asking you that. I can only imagine what you're going through."

"It's not that bad, I got to take a week long nap and I'm on so any drugs right now I can hear my hair grow." I gave my best attempt at a laugh but it came out strained.

"How can you make light of this situation?" Liara sat down in an available seat. _Somehow I don't think, 'Because I'm basically living out a video game' would hold water._

"Because surviving this kind of trauma is supposedly impossible, and with Shepard on the case, that makes the odds of me pulling through this almost certain."

"You have a lot of faith in the Commander." Liara said.

"I do, and besides, she said something about you giving me a better chance." Liara looked guilty.

"I… I'm afraid I wasn't exactly honest with the Commander when I said that. I'm no expert on human physiology, but there's no way I…. I'm sorry, It's just about the Cipher. The asari on Feros told us about the information she gave you and, well, it's our best chance to truly understand the Protheans." Liara said quietly.

"So you what, want to pull it from my head in case the procedure fails?" I was a little shocked. This wasn't the shy friend I had spoken at length about ruins and caves with. This was the calculating logic of the future Shadow Broker. So it had been there all along, masked only by youth and inexperience.

"No, I could never force you…" Liara looked even guiltier. "I'll admit it must sound selfish, but this is my life's work, and the fate of the galaxy may well rest on the information in your head."

"Damn right it sounds selfish." My anger flared briefly, but the look on her face stopped me. The calculation had gone, leaving only a deep sadness. Liara was obviously distraught at having to ask a dying man to surrender his memories. I gathered all of my concentration and tried to push the cipher and only the cipher to the forefront of my mind. "Okay, I'll give you what I can, it's not like you can mess it up further."

Liara looked relieved. "Thank you, Liddle, I will try to be as gentle as I can." The asari repositioned herself to look me in the face. The tingle of biotics ran through me and I felt my mind start to trickle together with hers. The visions, like oil on the surface of a stream, flowed out of me into the shared pool of consciousness. While Liara experienced the visions alongside me, I felt the underlying currents of emotions that weren't my own. Most were unfamiliar, alien, but a few seemed to stick out. Caring? Affection? And just as it had started, the link broke. I was staring the blue alien in the face again.

"This feeling, a whole culture…" Liara sat back in her chair heavily. "I had never imagined."

"You're welcome." I lay back. The entire process had been followed by a wave of fatigue. I must have fallen asleep, because the next time I opened my eyes I was alone. I took the meds Dr. Chakwas had left by my bedside and got up to dress. A found a pair of darkened glasses on the table with a note from Kaidan saying that when the migraines struck him, shading his eyes really helped him move about the ship. I'd have to thank him later. I slipped on the shades and made for the door.

"Nice glasses, militiaman." Ashley was lying in the bed nearest the door.

"Thanks, how are you? That hit looked pretty bad."

"Yeah, it was. I was lucky to get back to the Normandy. Now I'm stuck here until they can grow me a new kidney." She stated it matter of factly, as if the regrowing of an entire organ was a mere inconvenience.

"Well I hope you get better soon, Chief."

"Hey, you too."

I made my way slowly over to where several marines were eating. Jenkins hushed them as I approached, which I was incredibly grateful for. He even found a bowl of soup somewhere for me. We chatted in low voices. He relayed the firefight down in the tunnels, while I told him about the battle with the Thorian.

"Where's Steiner? I didn't see her in the medbay." I asked after wrapping up the drive to Exo-Geni. Jenkins grew sad.

"She won't talk to anyone. She says she's fine, but her and Kowalski were close, you know." He puffed out his cheeks and shook his head. I spooned down the rest of my soup and found somewhere to curl up for the rest of the trip, which was mercifully short.

* * *

><p>The Commander insisted I be brought down to the clinic in the wards in a wheelchair, which I accepted only because a stiff breeze was liable to knock me over, and Shepard was known to be slightly more forceful than a hurricane when she needed to be. The noise and light of the Citadel was unpleasant but short lived as we made good time to the clinic. Inside stood a red haired woman prepped for surgery.<p>

"This is the patient?" the woman spoke in a strong French accent.

"Yes. Liddle, this is Dr. Chloe Michel, she'll be assisting me in the procedure." Dr. Chakwas greeted her fellow doctor and they both began preparing the clinic for surgery. The scene was somewhat familiar to me; this wasn't the first time I'd been in a hospital. Eventually the others were ushered out and I was given a local anesthetic. The surgery seemed to last for hours. Being restrained to the table and only able to stare straight up, I tried to think about anything other than my current situation. After what seemed like an eternity, there was a sudden feeling of pressure in my head and the buzzing visions stopped abruptly. It began to feel very cold. The faces of the two doctors grew first concerned, then worried. They began to talk rapidly back and forth. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but the sense of urgency was clearly apparent. My mind felt like it was slowly draining away. The world grew grey. Then it snapped back into focus. I had been moved, that much was clear. And I could hear.

"That was too close."

"If you hadn't…"

"I know. Wait, it looks like he's come round." The doctors returned. Chakwas took out a small probe. "Listen very closely, Deputy, don't try to move. If you can understand me, blink twice." I complied. The feeling of clear-headedness was wonderfully refreshing. "Good. Now, it was touch and go, but you're making a remarkable recovery. At this rate you'll be ready for service by the time the Normandy returns. Rest now; it'll be a while before you can move again."

"Deputy Liddle, It's good to finally meet you." I sat up in bed to see a tall man in an Alliance uniform.

"Captain Anderson, what brings you down here?" I set aside the newspad I had been given to read. Either didn't know, or left out the fact that it was Commander Shepard. There was a story on Nassana Dantius, who had fled to Illium after her connections to slavers had come to light. Emma Wong had apparently figured out the asari had hired someone to kill her own sister, though she

"I thought I'd like to meet the man Shepard speaks so highly of. She's being debriefed by Alliance brass right now and wanted me to check up on you."

"She's on the Citadel?"

"Yes, just got back from a mission, classified of course. She'll most likely come to pick you up after her debrief." The Alliance captain took a seat and looked out a window. After I time he looked back to face me. His face was stern and forbidding. "I thought you should know, the Alliance has finished reconstructing the records from Eden Prime." The short sentence dropped through my peace of mind like a lead anchor.

"Sir?"

"It's interesting how they found no reference to a Michael Liddle, in the militia or not. It's also interesting how old Herzer Herrick didn't recognize your holo." The captain leaned in closer. "Now Shepard says you're an asset to her mission, and I'm going to take her at her word, but you make one move that puts the Commander or her crew at risk, and I assure you, I will find you."

"Captain Anderson? What are you doing down here?" Shepard walked wearily into the medbay. The captain's face brightened and he smiled warmly.

"Ah, commander. I was just commending this young man for his actions of Feros."

"How's it going, Liddle?" Shepard walked over to stand next to Anderson.

"Much better, thanks." I said shakily. The look on Anderson's face had been terrifying.

"Are you good to walk?" Shepard asked. I looked over to Dr. Michel, who nodded a yes. I relayed the nod to Shepard. "Good, pack your things then, we depart in 30."

"Commander, I do not think it would be good…" Michel began. Shepard waved her off.

"I appreciate your concerns, and my crew is in your debt for looking after him for so long, but the Normandy is more than capable of caring for him. And as much as I hate to admit, we could need him in action sooner rather than later."

"Alright," Michel admitted defeat, "the implants are stable and the physical weakness is almost gone. I will release him to you on the condition that he continues to take the medication I have prescribed." She fixed me with a harrowing stare. The prescribed medication was ghastly, but I wouldn't be walking and talking without it.

"He promises." Shepard agreed for me. After I had packed, I walked out with her and Anderson. The captain quickly excused himself.

"So what's our next move, Commander?" I asked.

"The Alliance wants us to Investigate a Geth incursion in the Armstrong Nebula, and we still have to look into claims that Benezia has been seen on Noveria, and we've received word that an STG team is missing on Virmire. They may have been looking into a possible Geth base."

_Virmire. So taking the Cipher hadn't accomplished anything. We were still going._

"Commander, I know I've undergone some pretty major surgery, but how long before I can go back to active duty."

"You're going to be surprised, but you already are back on active duty. Now that the shroud is working properly, your brain is showing a markedly better ability to heal itself. I also had the doctors put in some of the Alliance's lower impact soldier augments while you were on the table. With some work you can be back in fighting trim before we hit the Armstrong Relay."

Commander, this is, wow."

"It's not all good news I'm afraid. The neural shroud is, well, it's not completely legal in Alliance space, as a Spectre's deputy you shouldn't run into too much trouble, but after… Just keep the fact that you have it to yourself."

"Aren't you at least partially liable for this? Why didn't you tell me you were basically sanctioning a crime before you let me agree?"

"You're on my crew now, if breaking a few laws was what it took, then so be it."

"Thanks, Commander."

"You're welcome, Liddle."


	13. Chapter 13: The Chase

Interloper: Chapter 13

The first night back aboard the Normandy was spent in the cargo bay with a projection of _The Moons of Palavan_, a quarter of the ship's discretionary budget in food and drink, and over half the crew. Even the Commander made an appearance. According to Jenkins it was a tradition started by Captain Anderson, a way to let off some steam before a major campaign. Shepard had announced over the loudspeakers our plans to prevent a Geth incursion. The morning had been spent stowing munitions, checking gear, and bringing the new marines up to speed. The vid playing over the back wall was a fun, mindless shoot em up, picked for the ground pounders. I found a seat towards the back simply to relish in the lack of buzzing or headaches. As the night wore on, men and women started to leave to get some rest before we hit the first Geth stronghold. Eventually, only Jenkins, Steiner, Dubyansky, Tali and I remained huddled around a small table.

"It's going to be a long fight." Dubyansky commented, "We begin damage control patrols tomorrow morning, and we won't stop until the last Geth falls."

"I give the Geth a week." I said, tossing a card into the middle.

"Bullshit, they've got at least two." Steiner threw down a card and swept up the pile. "Command says they've already fortified."

"I give them two days, now that the Commander's on the case." Jenkins picked up a card from the deck.

"I'll just be happy to take a few down." Tali said wistfully. She folded in her hand. "I'll see you all tomorrow, I should get some rest. Michael, I want to run some diagnostics on the Mako first thing in the morning, meet me after breakfast?"

"Sure thing." I folded my cards in too. I was just about to lose what few credits I had left anyway. "I think I'll turn in too."

"So, diagnostics?" Tali had already crawled under the tank. She waved for me to join her. "Looks like a tank to me."

"Very funny. Hold this part here." I took a hold of the part she had removed from the undercarriage. "So, are you ready to talk about that program you had me rig up?"

This again. I couldn't blame her for wanting to know more, I had asked her to keep a pretty big secrets, and secrets, as it turned out, were a real headache to keep.

"I suppose you deserve to know the truth. You know that Admiral, Kahoku? He was the one I warned."

"I suspected you had something to do with that. You ask to send a message to an Alliance admiral, and only a short time later one vanishes. What did you tell him?"

"I only wanted to warn him that the connection might put him in danger if he tried to investigate. He must have assumed it was a threat. I didn't expect him to just up and vanish with his flotilla." The flotilla that still hadn't been found if the news reports were to be believed. The closest lead anyone had was a sighting of a small group of Alliance ships that had ignored hails and fled in the Voyager Cluster.

"That's it? You sent a warning and he ran off with his fleet?"

"I don't know, Tali. If I did I would tell you, honest."

"Alright. Here hold this." She passed me another part and dug deeper into the Mako's undercarriage. "Have you told Shepard about this yet?"

"No," I admitted, "I was a little busy being comatose. I'll tell her after this campaign, I promise."

"You better. Now, I'm going to chat with Engineer Dubyansky, you can put this back together." She rolled out from under the vehicle, leaving me holding sections of the tank's suspension system. "And Michael, I'm glad you're okay."

* * *

><p>"Transitioning in 5…4…3…2…1." The flash of light that accompanied a mass relay transition gave way to inky blackness. "Heat sinks engaged, switching to passive sensors only, we are dark Commander."<p>

"Alright Joker, plot a course to Antibaar. Liddle, head to the meeting room." Commander Shepard walked beside me as we headed back through the ship. The rest of the team was already assembled. "Kaidan, bring up the map." The biotic moved to the screen in the back of the room. The Armstrong Nebula was brought up and magnified. "This is the extent of the Geth incursion, we've spotted four outposts; here, in the Tereshkova system, and in the Hong, Gagarin, and Vamshi systems. We have been tasked to scout out the Geth positions for the 109th based off of the troopship SSV Valley Forge and its escorts, SSV Canary Wharf and SSV Tannhauser Gate."

"We're working with the Roughnecks?" Ashley asked.

"You're thinking of the 118th, the 109th is Lt. Gorman's unit." Kaidan corrected. Ashley made a dismissive noise.

"As I was saying," Commander Shepard interjected, "our mission is primarily recon. We'll move in with stealth systems engaged, do some aerial reconnaissance, and then land a small ground team to infiltrate and mark targets of opportunity for the marines. Kaiden, I want your two best snipers for the ground team. You'll lead them, Liddle's going to be your second in command and take Garrus along for support."

"Commander, shouldn't I be on the ground team? And Liddle?" Ashley asked, a little angrily. Garrus chimed in. "Yes, what leadership experience does Liddle have?"

"I, um, made Eagle Scout…"

"Eagle Scout? I've heard of them. Earth's elite paramilitary unit. You're more impressive than you look." Garrus chuckled.

"Garrus is right though, Chief Williams should be on this mission, not me." I said.

"I need Williams to lead the rescue squad if things turn south, and you'll only need to take over if Kaidan takes a hit. Think of it as on the ground training and observation."

"I feel honored, Commander." Was all I could say.

"Earn it then. Everyone, grab your gear and start final preparations. Dismissed."

* * *

><p>I spent the trip from the relay to the planet trying desperately to remember this mission from the game. I remembered just dropping in with a Mako and blasting everything. That certainly would have been easier than trying to sneak in. and wasn't there a colossus waiting for us down there? I wracked my brain for ways to beat the largest of the Geth constructs. Eventually I downloaded a flashbang program for my Omni-tool. It was no tactical cloak, but perhaps a bright enough light would blind the walking tank for long enough to do some damage. Engrossed in my musings, I didn't see Kaidan approaching the terminal I was standing at.<p>

"Deputy, We're almost to the planet. I just need to pick out my team, and then I'll see you on the elevator. Alright?"

I nodded. Kaidan turned towards the crew quarters, leaving me alone. I decided to stop by the mess hall for a quick bite before the mission. The table was empty as I sat down with an MRE. The crew seemed relaxed, despite the fact that we were barreling through enemy territory. Someone sat down beside me.

"Mike, I hear you're leading missions now." Jenkins said excitedly.

"I'm just tagging along," I corrected, "Lieutenant Alenko's still in charge."

"Yeah, but that's still a step up. I've never been second in command of a covert op." the marine's voice held the slightest hint of jealousy.

"Liddle, you ready to go?" Kaidan had emerged from the crew quarters.

"Yeah, just talking to the corporal."

"Oh, Jenkins, I almost forgot. The chief wants to see you." Kaidan added. Jenkins nodded and left the table. I cleared up my things and followed the biotic into the elevator.

"Nervous?" Kaidan asked in the elevator.

"Yes." I answered.

"Good, it'll keep you on your toes." He said.

"You're not mad that I was dumped on your team, are you?"

"The Commander's got an eye for talent." He replied, "If she thinks you've got what it takes, I'm not going to argue with her. Hopefully you won't need to take over at all, I really don't enjoy being shot." The doors opened onto the cargo hold. Two marines stood at attention in matte black armour. "Gorski, Forrest."

"We're ready, sir." The marines had a calm demeanor, except for their eyes, which seemed to watch everything. The one called Forrest fixed me with a stare that would have made a hawk proud.

"This is Deputy Liddle, he's been assigned as my second in command for this mission." The marines simply nodded.

"Making our approach to the planet." Joker said over the intercom.

"Get your gear." Kaidan said. I dashed back up to the crew deck and made for my locker. I ran into Garrus on my way up.

"You ready for this?" he asked as I shrugged on the ceramic plates.

"I…" we were interrupted by the ship shaking.

"All hands, battle stations!" XO Pressley barked over the intercom. Kaidan came bursting out of the elevator. Garrus and I followed him up the stairs to the CIC. Crewmen ran to their stations as we passed. On the bride, Shepard stood leaned over Joker's chair. Kaidan sat beside him at the long range sensors station.

"Status?" he asked.

"They must have spotted us as we came through the relay, the outpost was on high alert. A drone made visual contact."

"Can we evade?" Shepard asked.

"Yeah, but we'll have to scrub the mission, no way we're getting through this."

"Do it, plot a course back to the relay. We'll link up with the 109th and plan our next step from there."

"Laying a course."

* * *

><p>The ship was quiet as we crawled back to the relay. The crew talked in hushed voices, as if speaking above a whisper would alert the Geth to our presence. While the ship had been designed to work behind enemy lines, the crew knew that the system worked better when the enemy wasn't actively looking for it.<p>

I paced back and forth across the CIC. To be rendered almost useless so soon after being offered such a leadership role was almost maddening.

"You're going to wear a hole in that deck if you're not careful." Shepard said.

"I know, I just…"

"You wish you could do more to help the situation? Believe me, we're all there. Get some rest; it's a long haul back to the relay."

I walked back through the ship, trying not to look at the strained faces of the crew. I managed a few bites in the mess hall before being enlisted to haul omni-gel up to the repair stations.

"Michael, I wondered if you had time to talk." Liara came up next to me as I rolled the last barrel into place.

"Sure, mind if I sit?" the two of us perched on top of a pile of crates. "Was there something you wanted to talk about?"

"I don't know, I, before your surgery… I want to apologize, it was selfish of me to demand so much from you."

"Hey, Shepard needed that data, especially if I didn't pull through. You only did what you had too."

"I'm glad you're so understanding, but you must understand that my reasons were not entirely unselfish. Almost my entire life has been dedicated to researching the Protheans, and you just walk up to a beacon and download their entire culture."

"There was a little more than walking involved, and it still hurts to think about the images, even through the shroud they put in."

"I know it must seem petty, but I have spent two of your lifetimes to gain a fraction of a knowledge you possess. I thought about it a lot while you were on the Citadel, I shouldn't have put you in further danger. And then you came back, and I thought you wouldn't want to speak with me…"

"Liara, the state I was in back there, I can't fault you for wanting to preserve the knowledge. Don't beat yourself up about it."

"I will try. And if we escape the Geth, maybe we could talk again, I've missed our chats." The blue skinned woman looked at me hopefully.

"Yeah, I'd like that. Perhaps over lunch?" The ship shook again.

"Are we under attack?" Liara jumped off the crates and looked around.

"That one felt different, let's get to the bridge." We ran back to the front of the ship. Another tremor ran through the ship. The temperature was definitely higher than before.

"Commander, what's going on?" I asked. Joker was the one who answered.

"The IES is reaching capacity. If we don't vent our sinks soon, we'll fry the ship."

"And venting would make us a target?" Liara asked.

"It'd paint a damn spotlight on us." Shepard said, "And that's not our only problem. There's a Geth Cruiser parked on the relay."

"We can't fight our way past it?" I asked.

"The Normandy's a recon frigate, not a dreadnaught. In the amount of time it would take to dial up the relay, that cruiser would atomize us."

"Heat sinks at 98% capacity, Commander, how d'you want to play this." A hint of urgency tinged Joker's voice.

"Can we call for reinforcements?" the Commander asked.

"We'd need to fire up the comm. array, which would light us up anyway." The temperature was steadily climbing inside the ship's cockpit. "It's not going to matter in a minute, the failsafes will vent automatically."

"We're going to have to fight them either way." Shepard said, "That cruiser's FTL will bring it into firing range almost instantly."

"The Picard Maneuver." I murmured.

"Excuse me?" Shepard fixed me with her stare.

"We hit them first, straight out of FTL. They won't be able to see us as we close, then we hit them with everything we've got."

"He's right, Commander, they won't see us coming until we're right on top of them. We'll be blind too though."

"If we line ourselves up before hand, that cruiser's a stationary target." I said.

"Can you do it, Joker?" Shepard asked.

"Commander, sometimes I think you forget who you're talking to." Joker jabbed at his console. "Setting up the approach." The ship gave a final shake. "Vent in process, Commander, what's the plan?"

"Do it. All hands, we are engaging the Geth, prepare for combat." She spoke the last sentence into the intercom.

"Course plotted, Commander, the Geth have spotted us and are moving to intercept."

"Hit them hard, Joker. We might just come out the other side of this." Joker punched a big red button on his console.

The star field outside the windows shifted into an aurora as the ship jumped to FTL. The shutters closed in preparation for the fight.

"You two should take a seat and strap in, if kinetics go down it's going to get rough in here." I strapped in at the empty console next to Liara.

"Here goes nothing." I said.

"Wait, I can tap into the ships sensor feed, at least we'll be able to see what's going on." Liara leaned in to get a better view of the keyboard. After a few taps the screen displayed a rippling line. "Our view is obscured by our wake, it should clear up after we drop out of FTL." The screen snapped into focus. The insectoid shape of the cruiser loomed in front of us. Sharp pinpricks of light spat out at it as Joker fired the missiles and the forward guns. The pilot danced the frigate around the cruiser's return fire, but at the extreme close range we began to take hits. The ship shook repeatedly as the barriers absorbed hit after hit.

"Joker!"

"I know!" Another hit. "Commander, its barriers are too strong!"

"Fire our disrupters, focus on the crease right there!" the ship loosed its warp effect torpedoes. On the screen each warhead bloomed as it impacted on the Geth ship. The ripples in space tore through a section of the cruiser's shields. "Hit them now, maybe we can get them to back off." Joker took the Normandy through a complex loop, hammering the weakened portion again and again.

"It's no good!" more fire spread itself across our barriers. In the CIC, a serviceman was thrown from his station as a conduit behind his station overloaded. A small fire broke out in the hallway leading to the bridge. I undid my straps and grabbed the extinguisher besides the chair. I hosed down the fire quickly. "Commander, the relay just activated!"

I turned in time to see the relay light up like a Christmas tree. Three ships came charging through the relay. Alliance ships. The split-wedge shaped frigates poured shots into the wounded cruiser. Bright flashes began to walk up its superstructure as barriers fell. The ship welted inwards and then exploded in a flash of white light. The Normandy gave a final shudder as something pinged off the hull. Something hard and sharp caught me in the chest and pitched me over.

* * *

><p>Author's Notes:<p>

This is the beginning of another multi-part chapter. I've been wanting to add more side quests, but of course, in the game they tend to be a little samey. I intend to mix things up a little for this one, I hope you guys like it. Also of Note, a couple of people were wondering how the Neural Shroud works and what it's effects will be. Well, I had some stuff worked out, but it was tough to fit it in without sounding out of place, but if you guys want, I could have a sort of 'Unofficial Codex' for this series to explain things. Let me know if you want this and I can have it for the next update.

-Liddle Out


	14. Chapter 14: Blackout

Interloper: Chapter 14

"Are you okay?" Liara ran over and pulled me off the floor. My shoulder was killing me, but it looked like I was still in one piece.

"What happened?" I clutched my arm. Joker answered,

"Debris from the cruiser creased our hull. You must have caught some spalling." The comm. panel buzzed.

"SSV Normandy, this is Captain Everett of the Valley Forge. What's your status?"

"Valley Forge, this is the Normandy, we sustained minor damage, but we're okay. Thanks for the assist."

"You're welcome Normandy. Long Range scans report clear, bring your ship about to dock, and we can have our damage control teams give you a hand."

"Acknowledged, Valley Forge. Joker, bring us about. Keep an eye out for Geth. All hands, stand down battle stations and prepare to receive repair crews."

"Commander, while your attempts to scout have been admirable, I think we'll take it from here." Lt. Gorman spoke in clipped tones. "With all due respect, my marines have trained for these types of missions, and this task force has the firepower…"

"_My_ task force," Captain Everett spoke up, "still needs good scouting data before we hit the next three bases. What do you think would have happened if you dropped your platoon before the cruiser showed up?"

"Be that as it may, our mission relies on hitting those bases fast. We can't do that if we have to keep bailing out the Normandy."

"The Normandy fell afoul of chance;" Shepard said harshly, "Without stealth systems, any Geth reinforcements we run into would overrun this task force in minutes."

"Enough," the captain raised his voice, "Lieutenant, I'm not taking my ships in blind. If you want to go in, find a new ride. Commander, is the Normandy ready to go?"

"Yes, Sir. My team is ready to go and the crew has finished repairs to critical systems."

"Good. Once you get back to your ship, the task force will accelerate to the rim of the Hong system. The Normandy will do a full sweep, then, and only then will your team go in to hit the outpost. Is that clear?"

The Lieutenant nodded tersely. The veneer of military professionalism he had been trying to put on was steadily breaking down. Gorman seemed pretty inexperienced if his strict adherence to doctrine was anything to go by. In contrast, the commander of the Navy task force was an old hand, his close-cropped hair was shot with white and he carried himself in a more relaxed manner.

"Now, with your stealth systems engaged, we won't be able to track you directly, but we will be watching for weapon's fire on the passive sensors."

The meeting broke up. I made my way back to the Normandy past the flurry of flight officers and ground personnel. Shepard caught up to me in the hallway leading to the airlock.

"I see you're using your deputy status to listen in on high level command meetings now." The Commander said.

"Just staying informed." I said, nonchalantly. "Advantages of my fuzzy place in the chain of command I guess."

"The badge was a nice touch." She pointed to the bit of stamped steel plate I had affixed to cover the divot left by the errant chunk of hull plate.

"Garrus' idea, he said people tended to let you by without question if your badge was shiny enough. Looks like he was right."

"Sure seemed to impress that Valley Forge pilot you were making eyes at." The Commander said almost smugly.

"I hadn't noticed." I lied badly. "I was focused on the mission briefing."

"Mm hmm? Well we've got some time before we hit Casbin. You better get that shoulder checked out, don't think a little scratch like that'll get you out of going planetside." We peeled off at the Normandy airlock. Shepard went back up to the cockpit with Kaidan, who had been waiting at the door. I headed back towards the medbay, but ran into Garrus on the way.

"So it worked, right?" he asked, "I knew it; your Alliance will let anyone with a badge through." He laughed to himself.

"It probably had more to do with me walking in behind the first human Spectre. You're still going down on the mission, right?"

"Of course, to be honest, when Shepard asked for the best snipers on the Normandy, I figured I'd be going down by myself."

"Very funny, so you've got my back right, if stuff goes down?"

"Why? You planning a coup?" the turian said.

"No, it's just if I have to lead, I want to know someone down there is going to back me up."

"Not nervous are we, Deputy?" a hint of humor slipped into Garrus' voice.

"Garrus, we're sneaking into a Geth base to scout for high value targets for a marine attack. I'm sure you did that kind of thing all the time in C-Sec, but I grew up tending crops. Of course I'm nervous."

"Ok, ok," the officer put up his hands in mock surrender, "Yes, I've got your back." The two of us stood in front of the medbay doors. "I'll be in the hold when you're done here. I've got something I think you'll want to see."

* * *

><p>"Deputy Liddle, I wasn't expecting to see you so soon, are your implants giving you any trouble?" Doctor Chakwas looked up from Engineer Dubyansky, who she was treating for burns.<p>

"No, ma'am. I just took a bit of spalling." I motioned at the injured area.

"I swear, Deputy, if you don't take care of that shoulder it's going to fall right off." The doctor shook her head. Alright, take the armour of and I'll have a look."

A few poking and proddings and a shot in the arm later found me down in the hold, looking for Garrus. The blue armoured turian waved me over to his seat atop the Mako.

"Ah, Liddle, didn't think you'd make it. Thought you'd be put on bed rest again for certain." He chuckled at his own joke.

"Ha, you're a real riot. You said you had something to show me?" Garrus nodded and tossed something heavy into my arms. It was a blue metal rectangle, rough and worn. Lines were etched in a familiar pattern.

"What's his then?" I asked.

"I know you're new at this whole, 'soldier' thing, but I was sure you'd recognize a rifle." I looked down at the thing and flipped a catch. It folded out, not into the assault rifles I had been using, but a long rifle with a boxy scope. "That's an Elanus Risk Control Hammer." Garrus filled me in. "We picked it up off a pirate on a ship called the Majesty."

"I know what it is, but why are you handing it off to me." I hefted the weight of the rifle.

"Well, among the Turians, when a boy reaches manhood, he is presented with his first non-practice rifle. I think I remember you mentioning being in your mid-twenties, which makes you a little overdue. Plus that peashooter of yours isn't exactly suited for covert ops."

"Well, thanks, I guess." I sighted down the length of the hold. The crosshairs drew a figure eight across the wall as my arm wobbled.

"That thing's loaded with dummy ammo if you want to take a few practice shots." Garrus offered. It turned out that I needed more than a few shots. Firing from standing or even kneeling left a lot to be desired.

"Well, perhaps if you braced it first." Garrus ribbed light heartedly. "You're lucky I'm coming along."

I was about to respond when Tali came storming past us. Her eyes were narrowed behind her mask, but she otherwise ignored us.

"What's up, Tali?" the quarian brushed me off with a flick of her hand. Garrus and I watched as she continued out of the hold.

"What was that all about?" Garrus asked. I shrugged. Whatever it was, it would have to wait. Kaidan, Gorski, and Forrest descended in the elevator. The three of them headed in our direction with purpose.

"Thought I'd find you two down here. Mission's pretty much the same, but we're going to have to watch ourselves down here. Council records have Casbin marked as a Sanctuary world. Geth or no, we're going to have to be precise to prevent disturbing the formation of habitable ecosystem."

"So you're saying we have to watch where we shoot in case we hit some plants?" I asked.

"Council rules," Kaidan said, "Look, I'm not saying you sacrifice yourself so that one day a flower will grow here, just keep it low impact. That means no grenades, and no incinerations."

"And if we run into armatures?" Garrus asked.

"We'll be loading Tungsten cored ammunition, but remember this is a scouting op. If we do our job right, we won't need to fire a shot."

"And what are the chances of that?" Garrus said knowingly.

* * *

><p>The trip into the Hong system was mostly quiet. With the separation of the Normandy from the rest of the task force, the activity on the ship picked up in tempo. With the attack on the first outpost, the Geth had stepped up patrols through the system. On the bridge, Joker carefully threaded the Normandy through the net.<p>

"Nice and easy, Joker." Commander Shepard stood at the console overlooking the galaxy map. The projector itself was displaying an image of the system, with Geth Ships shown in red.

"Uh, Commander?" Joker called back, "We're picking up some anomalous signals."

"What kind of anom…" a burst of static screeched over the loud speakers. "Joker? What's going on?"

"Propulsion is offline, Commander." Shepard rushed up towards the bridge. I followed. Crewmen at their stations mashed buttons on their consoles, trying to get something to work. "It's worse than I thought." Joker filled us in as we arrived. "We're transmitting a distress signal."

"Well, shut it off." Shepard ordered.

"That's the thing, I can't shut it off." He turned to face us. "I can't do anything; something's locked me out of the Normandy's systems."

"With that beacon going off, the Geth will be all over us." Shepard said. "Liddle, get down to engineering, tell them to cut the power to the beacon manually."

"Yes, Ma'am." I ran back, but Shepard called after me.

"Hey Liddle, catch!" she tossed me one of the small ear radios. "Joker says internal communications are down." I slipped the radio over my ear and made for the engine room. At the entrance to the elevator, two engineers were attempting to pry open the doors.

"No luck, Deputy, elevator's stuck between floors."

"I need to get down to engineering." I said. The two engineers looked at each other.

"I guess you could try climbing down." One of the engineers said. "We'll get this open and you can make your way down."

"Great." The two plates that made up the door slid apart. Down in the hold, the lights had gone out. "Wish me luck." I activated the light on my Omni-tool and stepped out into empty space. The rails the elevator ran on where slick with oil, but I managed to make my way hand over hand down to the hold. "Anyone down here?" I asked, sweeping the dark room with my light.

"Over here." Garrus turned on his own light. The turian was standing by the engineering room door. I've been trying to get this thing open; do you know what's going on?"

"I don't know, we picked up some signal, and then the Normandy went nuts." I filled him in. at that moment, the radio chirped.

"Deputy Liddle, did you make it down to engineering?"

"Yes, but the doors are locked down. Garrus and I are going to try and run a bypass." I nodded to Garrus. He activated his Omni-tool and held it over the locking mechanism. The door cracked open.

"Garrus? What's going on?" Tali asked from the other side.

"Sounds like you've got it open, listen, we've got a problem. Joker's found Geth runtimes in the Normandy computer. They completely overpowered our cyberwarfare package and spread through our systems."

"Sounds serious, Commander." Tali and Garrus forced the doors. In the dark of the engineering section, the drive core glowed eerily. The blue light illuminated Engineer Adams standing beside Dubyansky and one of the marines.

"Patch me through to Adams." Shepard ordered. A few words with the engineer and I was sitting in on a meeting with most of the senior members of the crew.

"So here's the situation," Shepard said, "the Geth have managed to infiltrate our computer systems. As far as we know, they have almost full control. Engineer Adams, any progress on the beacon?"

"We had to cut the lines to the external comms. to shut that thing up. My engineers have been completely unable to get back into our computers. We're lucky this virus I'd guess you'd call it, hasn't vented the ship. The quarian managed to isolate the exterior hatch controls."

"Commander, I have a suggestion." Tali piped in. "My people have found Geth programs to be almost unhackable, but they aren't invincible."

"What are you suggesting, Tali?" Kaidan asked.

"We starve it, cut the power. Once the circuits are clean, we load from backups."

"Is this possible?" Shepard asked. Adams spoke up.

"In theory, if we cut the power and run out the capacitors, the entire system would effectively reset. We'd be totally dead for a good few minutes though."

"Better dead in the water for minutes than the alternative. How long will it take to set up?"

"I can have it ready immediately." Adams said.

"We've got bigger problems, Commander." Joker said. "Geth drones inbound. Commander, without weapons and barriers, they'll tear us apart."

"Engineer Adams, prepare the shutdown immediately."

"And the drones?" Joker asked.

"The Mako!" I called, "Commander, we can use the Mako. Its computer should be clean. If we use it as a kind of mobile gun platform…"

"Are you crazy?" Tali asked.

"Do it." Shepard said simply. I ran to the tank. Behind me the engineers followed, slipping into sealed environment suits.

"You heard the Commander! This tank needs some kind of tether! Dubyansky, rig up that cabling!" Engineer Adams barked orders. I dove into the tank and ran a quick startup check. My omni-tool showed no signs of Geth contamination. Behind me, someone slipped into the gunners chair and dogged the hatch shut. I turned to see Jenkins strapping himself in.

"Jenkins, what are you doing here?"

"Someone had to keep you from trying to ram those Geth, may as well be me." The marine slapped me on the back. "Let's get us some drones."


	15. Chapter 15: Landfall

Interloper: Chapter 15

The forward hatch burst open with a rush of air. The Mako was half dragged, half pushed by envirosuited engineers. Inside, Jenkins and I held on as the tank was plucked from the Normandy. The tether twanged as we reached its full extension.

"I'm leveling out." I said. The Mako's jump jets fired in sequence as I tried to maneuver in the lack of gravity. Behind us, the Normany's running lights went dark.

"First wave, incoming. 30 degrees above." I called out. My hands flew across the board, trying to shift us into a position that Jenkins could fire from. The marine carefully took aim with the tank's cannon. The shock of the weapon's fire tumbled the tank on its tether. On the board, the red triangle signifying one of the drones winked out. "You got one!"

"Alright! Now turns us back around so I can get another shot!" it was too late, the wave of drones shot past us. I managed to get the tank stable enough for Jenkins to squeeze two more shots off in quick succession. As I tried to move us back into firing position, the board lit up with warning lights.

"Jenkins! Swing the turret left and fire a full burst of the machine gun!" Jenkins complied and the Mako scooted sideways, just in time to dodge a hail of fire. The leading edge of the storm still managed to maul the kinetic barriers, but the hull held intact.

"Shit, we got another wave!" Jenkins swung the turret to fire on the new arrivals. His fire managed to track a further drone before we were knocked too far off target. More fire pinged off the armoured hull, knocking us further off course.

"Another wave, dead ahead!" the radar was almost covered in red blips. Jenkins lit up the leading elements, his angle of fire propelling us straight backwards. The Mako shuddered as we took another hit on the top side.

"The cannon's been knocked out, I'm switching to machine guns!" Jenkins yelled. Somewhere behind us the hiss of escaping air marked a hull breach. I jammed the helmet seals closed as Jenkins did the same. "Can you hold us steady? We're drifting to the right." Jenkins took out another drone.

"I'm trying, we've sprung a leak! Hey, watch out!" a drone dive bombed us, shearing through the top turret. The cockpit emptied of air, leaving a heavy silence and a feeling of cold.

"Our weapons are gone." Jenkins said dully, as if in shock. I looked back at him. Out of the gash in our hull, I saw the trails of drones as they shot towards the helpless Normandy. A dazzling blue flash half blinded me. Through the after images I saw the Normandy lunge forward. I managed to shield my eyes before the frigate's main guns opened up again, wiping out great swathes of the Geth drones.

"Deputy Liddle, do you read?" the radio shrieked, the voice on the other end was distorted by damage.

"Liddle here. Commander, is that you?"

"Deputy, hold still, the tether's been severed we're going to try and pick you up."

"Commander, wait…" the Normandy swooped down towards us, hold open.

* * *

><p>"Jenkins? Liddle? Are you okay?" a white gauntleted hand came through the hole in the ceiling. Jenkins grasped it and hauled himself out of the damaged tank. I followed close behind. Chief Williams and Lieutenant Alenko stood among a squad of the ship's marines.<p>

"You expecting trouble?" I asked. Alenko nodded.

"We were going to be the last line of defense if we couldn't get the Normandy online in time. Listen, we've got bigger problems. Lt. Gorman and his marines went in ahead of us and made planetfall. They've run into more than they can handle. Captain Everett wants us to pull them out."

"How did the Captain allow this to happen?" Jenkins asked, "they were supposed to hold back until we reported in."

"That doesn't matter right now, what does matter is that we have Alliance personnel that need our help. Now sort out your kits. Load heavy, we're going to have to form a perimeter while we exfiltrate our teams." Jenkins and I dashed off to our lockers. I stowed the sniper rifle and drew out the shotgun I had found. The heavy weapon snapped to the small of my back as I drew the assault rifle and threw it over my shoulder.

"Is that a Jormangund Savage?" Jenkins asked, "How'd you get a hold of one of those?" he pointed at the red shotgun. I looked back at it.

"I, uh, found it." I said. Since I was dragged back out of Feros unconscious, I hadn't had to turn in the weapon to the Requisition Officer. "Picked it up on Feros. Is it any good?"

"It's supposed to be top of the line. Finest gear the Alliance has produced." Jenkins looked pretty impressed. He pulled his own rifle out and checked the ammo block. "You got any more Tungsten?"

"Here." I tossed him one of the ammo blocks I had stacked up in the back of my locker.

"Hurry it up you two, we hit atmo in ten minutes." Shepard had joined us. She sounded angry, and jerked on her armour in rough tugs. "Deputy, Corporal, good work in the Mako. You bought us just enough time."

"No problem, Commander, thank you for the rescue, it was getting pretty dicey out there."

"I'll pass your complements on to Joker, it was his flying. Now, I want you two on our left flank once we touch down, we're going to have to hold an LZ while we pull elements of the 109th out piecemeal. The leading platoon got pretty far in before the Geth launched an ambush and cut them off."

"We're ready, Commander." Jenkins gave a salute. I followed suit. The Commander returned the gesture and motioned for us to follow her back down into the hold. By the time we arrived, the turbulence of atmospheric entry thrummed against the hull. "Listen up Marines!" Shepard addressed the assembled troops. "The 109th has gotten itself into a jam. We are going to get in there and show them how it's done!" the assembled marines cheered. Since the skirmish on Feros, they had been fixing to get back in the fight with the Geth. "Our enemy is smart, they led the 109th straight into a trap, so I expect you all to keep your eyes peeled. I don't want to be writing home to any mothers today, so you watch yourselves down there. You get me?"

"We get you, Ma'am!" the marines replied as one.

* * *

><p>The ramp yawned open over a scarred valley. Smoke rose from multiple sites across the open space. The purplish-grey metal of Geth structures jutted from the algal growth that covered the ragged rocks. In the center of the field, the circular bulwark of the Geth Outpost stood, dotted with towers. The 109th had managed to blast a hole in the side of it, a torrent of oily smoke leaked out of it onto the field. In places among the debris of landing ships and broken fortifications, I could see the flash of gunfire and the occasional explosion.<p>

"Joker, pull us up to the largest concentration of friendly fire." Shepard ordered through her helmet radio. Beside me, Jenkins clenched a fist around his rifle. He nodded as I looked him in the eye. Across the hold, I saw Liara in the yellow suit of armour she had picked up on Feros. She smiled at me nervously and took a deep breath. Behind me stood two marines called Hawke and Becker. They had been assigned to our sector. I didn't know them, but Jenkins had said they were some of the best on board. Chief Williams walked among the waiting marines.

"You find cover the second we hit dirt. And I do mean cover, not like last time, Rodriguez. Keep your rifle pointed up front, mark your targets, take 'em out. You watch each other's backs, you hear me?" She laid her hand on Jenkin's arm for the barest of seconds. The ground was closer now. From our new vantage point I saw blue clad marines retreating under fire.

"Joker, forward GUARDIANs on my mark, give the 109th some cover. Mark!" the anti-fighter lasers strobed through the thick smoke that hovered over the battlefield, shattering the stones under the advancing Geth. The marines looked up and half ran, half limped their way to the Normandy's protective shadow. The ramp grazed the ground roughly, gouging two thick groves. "Go go go!" the first wave of troops ran down the ramp and onto the battlefield. The Normandy gave a withering sheet of covering fire as the Commander and her team advanced from cover to cover. Ahead of the first wave, Wrex tossed foes left and right.

"Second team!" Ashley yelled. The remaining marines dashed down the ramp. By now some of the less wounded marines had made it to our location. Between us, Jenkins and I helped haul the weaker ones up to the waiting arms of Chakwas and her orderlies.

"You're gonna be alright." I told one who was holding a burned hand over a suit puncture. The marine nodded gruffly and shrugged off my offered hand.

"Second team, advance to the FOB." The order came in through my headset. The hardsuit's HUD handily marked the remains of a Geth tower about halfway between the Normandy and the outpost.

"You heard the lady!" Ashley yelled. "Move up!" our feet pounded over rough stone. The acrid smell of burning lichen made it past even the suits scrubbers. Light flashed over my head as the Geth defenders exchanged fire with the parked Normandy. With a swoosh that flattened what little growth sprang from the planet, the frigate bounced up on its thrusters and rocketed into the darkening sky. My breath was ragged as we stormed towards the knot of Alliance soldiers. Through the smoke and the encroaching gloom, I could see Wrex crush a Geth platform with his heel, Liara toss one into the air, and Tali blow one away with her shotgun. Behind me, someone went down with a scream. I pushed forward.

"Look out!" I glanced upward, just in time to catch a Geth dropship glide in menacingly. The long ship dropped a squad of Geth in our path, blocking the way to the FOB. "Take cover!" I attempted to roll behind a piece of exposed conduit. My breath hitched as I landed hard on my shoulder. Jenkins dropped in beside me and fired over the conduit.

"You okay?" he asked. He primed a grenade and tossed it over his head.

"Yeah, just caught a bad roll." I rose to my knee and drew a bead on one of the blocking Geth. The rifle bucked into my shoulder as I fired a long burst into the platform. The tungsten rounds sparked as they ripped through the metal chestplate. I dropped back down to dodge the return fire. "We need to move up!"

"Tell you what, you go first." Jenkins joked. He took a turn firing over our cover. On our left, Ashley and two other marines pushed forward under a storm of fire. They responded in kind, blasting apart the blocking forces.

"You know what, I think I will." I hopped the conduit and switched to the shotgun. Not wanting to further damage my already abused shoulder, I tucked the weapon in tightly as it extended. It bucked savagely as I pulled the trigger. A tight cone of metal slivers shot from the barrel, the white hot metal burying itself in another Geth. I took a knee and fired again, knocking down another platform. Then I ran forward again. The FOB was now within reach. More of the marines of the second team had already reached the ruins of the tower. By now, Shepard's first team had cleared a wide swath of the metal spire. The blue armoured soldiers of the 109th had gathered atop the broken tower, where they shot down into the surviving Geth. One platform still stood in my way. It had its back turned to me as I charged forward. As the enemy came into reach, the Geth turned to face me, bringing its weapon to bear. I activated my Omni-tool's contact shock program. The orange glow of the holographic plates lit up the Geth an instant before the jagged lines of electricity sparked across the pates. The Geth jerked backwards and flailed helplessly. I fired a round down into the stunned Geth, decapitating it.

"Liddle, over here!" Shepard stood at a holographic representation of the battle field. Chief Williams and one of the 109th marines stood beside her. "Glad you made it." Her comment was punctuated by a series of explosions coming from within the Geth compound. "Chief, did enough of our men make it through to hold this base?"

"I think so, Commander." Ashley began. "Yes, with the walking 109ers taking up an overwatch position, we can hold here for some time."

"Good, I want most of our forces arrayed across this sector." She highlighted our current position on the map. "Kaidan!" she called over the officer. "You are going to take three men and form a rescue party. I want you responding to transponders and radio distress calls, that clear?"

"Yes, ma'am!" the biotic snapped off a salute and turned on his heel to gather his troops.

"Chief Williams, Chief Rikkon, you are going to hold this point. I'm taking Tali, Wrex, Garrus, and Liara into the outpost to pull out Gorman's squad."

"And me, Commander?" I asked.

"I want you liaising with the Valley Forge, they have some shuttles inbound to pick up the wounded. Stay in contact with them and help organize the evac." I nodded and saluted. Shepard returned the salute. I retreated from the map platform and found Jenkins climbing over a fallen chunk of the tower.

"About time you made it." I called. The marine shook his head. "You okay?"

"Hadley caught a bullet." He said glumly, "knocked her right out. Medic's say she'll pull through, but she'll be rotating out after this for sure." The crack of rifle fire filled the void in our conversation. As I was about to speak, the radio crackled.

"Alliance FOB, this is Cleaver One, do you copy?" the voice was female, calm, considering the circumstance.

"This is Spectre Deputy Liddle, go ahead Cleaver."

"Nice to hear a friendly voice, Deputy. I'm on approach to your location, am I clear to land?" my eyes scanned the Forward Operating Base. On one side, Shepard was readying her squad to move out, but otherwise the area had quieted down.

"Cleaver One, the door's open, put down in the clearing and we can start loading you up."

"I look forward to it, Deputy."


	16. Chapter 16: Friendly Down

Interloper: Chapter 16

The blue painted shuttle touched down gently on the craggy ground. "Alright, heavily wounded go on first!" Ashley yelled. I helped move stretchers onto the transport. Some of the marines groaned in pain, while other lay very still. I tried not to look at their faces as we loaded them onto the shuttle. Ashley banged out a sharp tattoo on the cockpit door and the shuttle rose into the air. Watching it leave, I let out a ragged breath. The sight of so much blood was making me a little queasy. A steadying hand grasped my shoulder. I turned to see the friendly face of Jenkins. I smiled in thanks and picked up my rifle.

Throughout the night, Ashley and the 109th's Chief had us running constant patrols of the perimeter. Occasionally, a wounded marine or two would limp into base, or Kaidan's squad would return, carrying the more hurt survivors. Twice we had to rush to the walls to repel another attack. The Geth were definitely getting more aggressive. The night wore on without contact from Shepard's team.

"Do you think we should go in after them?" Jenkins asked as we sat around the field canteen someone had set up.

"We have our orders, Rick." Ashley said kindly, "I don't like them anymore than you do, but Shepard wants us to hold this point, and that's just what we'll do."

The radio chirped. That would be Cleaver. The pilot had been making regular landings throughout the night.

"Go ahead, Cleaver One." I said. The reply channel was filled with static.

"Mayday, mayday, I'm hit… Going down…." I looked up to see a fiery streak in the sky. The shuttle skimmed the ground not far from the outpost and went down with a crash that could be heard even from our position.

"Cleaver One, do you copy?" I called. Silence hung on the other end of the line for a brief second before the pilot managed to pick up.

"I'm dinged up but I'm alive." Her voice remained calm, but her breath came in short, shuddering bursts.

"Can you move? Do you need help?"

"Negative, I think I broke a few ribs. Hold on." The line quieted again. A gunshot rang out. "The Geth know I'm here. One of their platforms came sniffing around. Put it down, but there'll be more." The marines around me were watching with grim expressions. I caught Ashley's eye. She shook her head sadly.

"Hold tight, Cleaver, we're coming to get you." I closed the link and stared down the Normandy's Gunnery chief. "Please, Chief. She needs our help."

"Look, Liddle, I know it sounds heartless, but we barely fended off that last wave as it is. We can't afford to send a party after one pilot who might be dead before we get there."

"Look, I'll go myself. You don't need to send any more marines. I'll hook up with Alenko's party once I extract any survivors."

"I'm sorry, Liddle. I'm callin…" Jenkins had taken her by the arm, in a gesture that mirrored the one she had given him during the landing. The two looked at each other for scant seconds before Ashley relented. "Just you. You keep your head down, and you come right back."

"I'm going too, Ash." Jenkins said. "Mike needs help on this one."

"Dammit Rick, we don't have time to argue about this." Ashley spat. Jenkins gave a lopsided grin.

"I know, that's why you're not going to stop me from going." He turned his back on the startled NCO and joined me at the ramparts. "You ready?"

"Let's go." We hopped over the wall and picked our way over the rubble of destroyed Geth. We quickly reached the limits of the FOB's scant lighting and had to pick our way carefully across the field by the light of guttering fires and of the moons in the sky above. Along the way, we ran into a Geth patrol. Jenkins dragged me down behind a lumpy boulder until they passed.

"That was close," he said, "Do you think they're headed for the crash?"

"No," I replied, "looks like they're searching for Kaidan." We allowed the patrol a little time to distance themselves with us, and continued on. The long trek wore me out quickly. Even at night, the planet was almost boiling hot. The seals on my hardsuit were keeping most of the heat at bay, but the constant jogging was starting to take a toll.

* * *

><p>"Hold up." I stopped Jenkins. Ahead of us lay the downed shuttle. Its boxy form stuck into the air. Flames had started to spread across the rear compartment.<p>

"You think this is it?" Jenkins asked.

"I'd bet my life on it." I drew my rifle and snuck forward carefully. An arm shot out from under a sheet of metal. I cried out in alarm and whirled around, but stopped when I found a human hand, wrapped in pilot's gauntlets. Jenkins hauled the metal away to reveal the pilot. She was wrapped in a cut down suit of light armour. In places the undersuit was singed and blackened. She wore a simple breather mask over her pale face. Her short, blondish hair was stuck to her forehead with sweat and blood. Jenkins and I propped her up and administered some of our medigel to the obvious wounds. The pilot's face lost the pained expression it had been wearing.

"Water?" she croaked. Jenkins snaked the tube from his canteen under the edge of the mask. The pilot took a deep pull and seemed to revive. "Thanks. Sorry if I scared you a bit, had to hide from the Geth." She waved her handgun. "Things not cooling properly in this place. Flight Chief Ferro, 42nd Airlift, by the way." She stuck out her gloved hand. I shook it.

"Deputy Liddle. We spoke over the radio."

"I remember… unggh. Sorry, I had to set my own fractures. You wouldn't mind splinting the leg, would you?" she pointed at her left leg, which stuck out awkwardly. Jenkins found a straight bar from the wreckage, while I bound the leg tightly.

"Thanks, boys. Listen, we can't stay here. If that fire reaches the eezo core, well, we shouldn't be around."

"No offense, Chief, but you don't look like you're in any shape to move." I said.

"I'm tougher than I look." Ferro said. "You give me a hand and I can get far enough away to avoid being atomized."

I looked across at Jenkins. He shrugged. "Not being atomized is pretty high on my list."

"Alright Chief, let's get you up." I carefully wrapped the injured pilot's arm around my neck and slowly we managed stand up and begin moving away from the damaged ship. Behind us the shuttle groaned menacingly. Ahead, the rattling, metallic sound of Geth chatter alerted us to a more immediate threat.

"Geth troopers!" Jenkins yelled. He dove for cover behind a large rock outcropping. With both arms supporting a wounded pilot and rolling or diving out of the question, I froze up. Through the wall of burning fuel, a Geth platform advanced, rifle raised in a firing position. For a brief second, I stared into its single eye. A shot rang out. The light in the Geth's head winked and darkened. I blinked, in shock. Beside me, Chief Ferro lowered my scarred Stinger.

"Nice gun, pulls a little to the left." She took a deep breath. "We better keep moving, that one will have alerted the others to our position." Ahead of us, Jenkins rose out of cover. He activated his radio.

"Lieutenant Alenko, we have a survivor of a shuttle crash. Can we get a location to rendezvous?"

"Negative Corporal, the commander is pulling out under fire; we've been tasked to assist. Pull back to the FOB and await instructions."

"Damn it." Jenkins looked torn. Knowing how much he idolized the commander, it wasn't surprising. "Liddle, the commander needs help."

"Look, I don't mean to rain on your parade, but I'm in no shape to fight." Ferro said. "If what they say about Commander Shepard is true, she'll get out just fine."

"I'll get you back." I said, "Jenkins, you find Kaidan's squad and go help the Commander." Relief spread across my friends face. He sprinted off towards the burning outpost. "Hey Jenkins!" I yelled after him. "No heroics!"

"Deputy, we have to move." Ferro reminded me. A high pitched whistle had started to emanate from the downed shuttle. We hobbled away across the rocky plain, me concentrating on keeping us steady, Ferro covering our front with my gun. "Thanks by the way, for coming to get me."

"Hmm." I struggled. In the heat of Casbin, carrying someone else was almost beyond my capability. "No problem."

"Thought I was a gonna for a while there." The pilot hopped stiffly over a crag. "So what unit were you with before the Spectre scooped you up? Marines? Navy?"

"Colonial militia." I replied.

"Seriously?" the chief managed a wry grin. "I guess they let anyone in these days."

* * *

><p>We ran into a few more patrols on the way back to the FOB. They seemed more disorganized than the Geth that had attacked the base. The Geth on the planet must have taken some heavy casualties, the average IQ of the mobile platforms was plummeting through the floor. Which made evading them much simpler, even with a limping pilot along for the ride. The last pack almost stumbled straight into us. It took the quick thinking of Chief Ferro tossing me into the open hatch of a supply crate.<p>

"You want to warn me first next time?" I said after the Geth had gone.

"And warn the Geth too? I think bruises hurt less than bullet holes. Now give me a hand, I think I bent my splints."

"Deputy Liddle, is that you?" I snapped around to see Williams and a pair of the Normandy's marines with rifles drawn.

"Chief, yeah. I've got the survivor here."

"Where's Jenkins?" Ashley's face was tired and dirty. Her usually tightly drawn hair had come loose, floating about behind her faceplate. From the patches applied over the marines' armour, it looked like the FOB had been hit again, hard.

"He went with Kaidan, wanted to help pull the commander out of the outpost." I helped pick up Ferro. The pilot leaned heavily on my shoulder. I tried to hide the wince.

"You let him go?" Ashley said coldly.

"He's a soldier, Chief, what was I supposed to do, drag him back here?" I stood defiantly. Williams seemed to relent. "If he doesn't make it, you and I are going to have words. It's all moot now, we're pulling out. The FOB has become untenable; you two are the last outside of the Commander's team on the boat."

Ferro and I limped our way up the rise Ashley was standing in. The five of us made for a flat clearing. "Joker, we're ready for pickup." Ashley said. I looked around, trying to see were out pickup was. With a roar and a downblast like a hurricane, the Normandy descended out of the gloom. Its hatch was down, the darkened hold now in reach. I shuffled up the ramp. Two pairs of arms reached out and took Ferro off me. Relieved, I cracked my helmet seals. The blast of the engines and the climate controlled inside of the hold felt cool and fresh on my face. Around me, marines sat against the walls and crates for support, some nursing wounds. I found an empty spot next to one of the 109ers and almost collapsed into a sitting position. The marine offered me a swig from a canteen which I gladly accepted. The drink was no doubt contraband, but I didn't really care at that point. I returned the flask and lay my head back.

"You the guy that pulled the Iron Maiden out of the fire?" the marine asked hoarsely.

"Huh, what?"

"Chief Ferro. You came in with her; I assumed you were the one who responded to the crash."

"Oh, yeah."

"You're alright, kid." The marine chuckled, "We get off this rock, you come over to the Forge. A bunch of the guys want you to join us for a round of Skylian Five." He offered me the flask again. I faked a gulp, I wasn't much of a drinker, but it seemed expected in these situations.

"I might take you up on that, I needed to buy a new shirt anyway." The marine laughed.

"Now you're starting to sound like Jimmy…"

"Good evening passengers, this is your pilot. Please put your chairs and tables in their upright and locked position as we may be about to experience some turbulence. But seriously people, you might want to hold onto something, Geth drones incoming." Joker called over the intercom. The ship started to shake and shimmy as Joker tried to avoid taking hits. Through the open ramp I saw the ruined landscape fly past. The Normandy was obviously pulling speed and maneuvers beyond what we were feeling in the hold. "Hi, Joker again, you guys are going to need to clear the deck, I'm going in for a hot extract."

"You heard the man, move!" Ashley yelled. Wounded Marines stumbled towards the back of the hold to clear the way for the Commander's team. I hoisted myself to my feet and pulled my rifle from my back. They were going to need cover. The outpost came into view. Shepard had apparently blown another hole on her way out. Retreating figures ran along the ground towards the Normandy. Joker flared the ship's engines, bringing us close to the ground. I could now make out the forms of the retreating team. Wrex barreled ahead of the pack, shouldering his way past blocking enemies. At some point his armour must have caught on fire, because its entire top surface had been blackened. Close behind, Liara and Tali sprinted, occasionally taking a shot behind them. Wrex hopped up onto the ramp and immediately turned to fire at the incoming Geth combat drones. My eyes fell on the face of Jenkins. He was running out to the edge of the group. Behind him, two drones were catching up on him. The scene was worryingly familiar.

I had brought my rifle up and started firing before the entire situation really sunk in. the drones swooped in, firing. Their shots flared against Jenkins shields. My own shots intersected with one of the drones, pitching it into the ground. The other drone changed targets, tracking me. Its arc swung wide missing me. Something heavy caught me in the midsection as something hot splashed across my face. I was knocked to the floor with a crash. I swiped at my face and my fingers came away blue. Confused, I looked down. The thing that had hit me was Liara. She was bleeding heavily from wounds on her back.

"Medic!"

* * *

><p>Author's Notes:<p>

So this wraps up our Geth adventure. Let me know how you liked this little side mission. I enjoyed writing something different from the old 'drop in, shoot some bad guys, grab the quest item,' and I hope you enjoy reading them. That being said, any feedback, positive or negative is much appreciated.

Triggs: I always felt the marines were underutilized. All we ever saw them do was guard the comm room and get picked off on Virmire.


	17. Chapter 17: Conversations

Interloper: Chapter 17

I couldn't help but feel nervous as I walked across the docking tube. The wounded from Casbin had been moved to the Valley Forge's more extensive medbay. I twirled a shaped disk of metal between my fingers. It was still warm from the fabber. The flight from the Geth stronghold had been chaotic, now that we had passed beyond the Armstrong Relay it had quieted down.

"Deputy." The marine guard nodded respectfully. I had gotten to know a few of the Forge's company while helping to move the wounded. According to one of them the pilot, Chief Ferro, was pretty much universally beloved among the crew. Bringing her back had made me a popular man.

"Charles." I replied. I walked quickly down the hall towards the medbay. I passed a few men from the Normandy. The Forge was also pulling mess duty for both ships while the triage area that had been set up on the crew deck was broken down. The medbay doors opened ahead of me. Jenkins walked out.

"Hey," he said, "You visiting people too?"

"Yeah," I showed him the disk. "Got a gift for someone."

"It's kinda weird looking." Jenkins regarded the disk for a second. "I'm sure she'll love it." He clapped me on the shoulder and smiled at the confused expression on my face. "Don't worry. I won't tell." And with that, he left. I watched him leave, still a little confused. Eventually I just shrugged and walked in. The ward was long and thin. Almost all of the beds had been filled, bags and drips hung like a spider's web over the infirmary. Only one bag held blue fluid. I made my way over to the bed quickly, trying not to look at the more grievously wounded.

"Hey Liara." The wounded asari's eyes fluttered open and focused on me. The archaeologist smiled.

"Michael, I'm glad you came." The asari removed a breathing mask to the better talk to me. "It's been lonely here on the ward."

"I, uh, made you this." I handed her the disk. She held it up to the light and peered at it. "Goddess, this looks almost Prothean." She looked at me, "What is it?"

"From what I can tell, it's their closest equivalent of a get well card. I think it's closer to the Alliance's Purple Heart though." Liara traced her fingers over the lines that adorned the burnished metal. Her voice gained a hint of concern. "Michael, you had to have accessed the Cipher to find this." She looked at me almost sternly. I looked away. I was still feeling the echoes from the dive into the blocked sections of my brain.

"I got you shot, it's the least I could do." I said, "And I think I still owe you a conversation."

"Yes," Liara said quietly, "I've been going mad over here by myself. If this is what it's like on the other side of the emergency ward, I don't know how you do it."

"Well, I get you visiting, don't I." I said. Liara looked away shyly. I stood awkwardly before commenting. "So, over a hundred and you've never been to a hospital?"

"For the last fifty years, I've been mostly by myself out in the middle of nowhere. When I got hurt I patched myself up and kept moving. It feels strange to just lie here."

"You got hit pretty bad though." I said. I still remembered the two black holes burned into the back of her armour.

"Luckily, it looked a lot worse than it actually was. The suit took most of the force, and the shots managed to miss any major organs. Still, I'm afraid I won't be able to go down and help destroy the next outpost."

"You haven't heard?" I asked, "We've been called off the mission."

"The Normandy?"

"All of us. Cruisers from the Fifth Fleet are coming to finish the job. Command has decided that we took 'unacceptable casualties' and that the Normandy has been ordered to go directly to Noveria to investigate the possible Geth presence."

"And Benezia." Liara said. Her voice grew cold.

"You worried about facing her?" I asked, laying a hand on her shoulder.

"I am not scared of Benezia!" Liara's voice rose sharply. "I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap like that. No, I'm not worried about facing her, what worries me is what could have driven her to throw her lot in with a murderer like Saren and his Geth."

"Perhaps she is being misled, or trying to bring him down from the inside." I tried to comfort the asari. Mentioning that her mother was being controlled by an ancient giant robot probably wouldn't be wise.

"Maybe." Liara didn't sound convinced. She looked up at me with bright eyes. "Thank you, Michael, for coming to see me. I think maybe you and Shepard are the only people on the Normandy that really trust me."

"I'm sure more it's people than that. I mean, there's Jenkins, and I don't think Garrus or Tali mind having you around. Then there's Joker…"

"I don't know, sometimes I feel that Joker is mocking me for my unfamiliarity with human customs." Liara looked slightly abashed.

"That's just his way of showing that he cares. Joker's funny like that."

"Really? Be that as it may, I think I prefer your way." She placed the Prothean token on the small bed stand that held her vitals monitor and smiled. I smiled back.

"It's been nice talking to you, Liara, but I think you should get some rest. I have to get back to the Normandy anyway, armour needs patching and stuff." I backed away.

"Perhaps you are right." Liara said dozily, "Goodbye, Michael." Her eyes slipped shut and I turned to leave the medbay.

"What, no ancient alien doodad for me?" a familiar voice asked from near my elbow.

"Chief Ferro, I didn't see you there." I stopped in front of the pilot. "How's the leg?"

"A little stiff, much better now that it's not pinned under bits of my own shuttle. I don't know if I thanked you down on the ground, but I appreciate you coming out to get me. From what I gather it was even worse on the ground than it was in the air."

"Yeah." I said, remembering the wounded I had pulled out of the FOB. Shepard had spent hours the day before grim-facedly writing letters to family members. "We got out of there though."

"That we did," Ferro said. "And to think, I wasn't even supposed to be here. I guess it's better than the alternative."

"How's that." I asked.

"My bird, well my entire wing really, we were supposed to transfer to the SSV Market Garden, one of Kohoku's ships. Sure as hell am glad I didn't ship out with him."

A shot of venom was evident beneath her calm, even tone. The anger surprised me.

"So you'd prefer to trade shots with the Geth to taking a tour around the galaxy with Admiral crazy?"

"Are you kidding me?" the pilot shot back. I felt a look of puzzlement slip across my face. Ferro relented. "I guess you must have been running dark at the time. The former admiral attacked a colony. His entire flotilla just showed up over Binthu and opened fire. No warning, no reason, nothing."

The revelation almost knocked me off my feet. Binthu had held a Cerberus research facility, but the entire colony couldn't have been working for them. At the very least, there must have been civilians working in the Cerberus front organizations.

"That's… Crazy…" I said, "He just destroyed the whole colony?"

"Yeah. He's a disgrace to mankind, if you ask me. Are you okay? You look pretty pale. You know people on Binthu?"

"Something like that." I said. _Who could have been on that planet? Kelly? Miranda? The Illusive Man himself?_

"I should go." I said weakly.

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way, kid." Ferro put a hand on my arm. "You go do what you've got to do."

I nodded and walked out of the infirmary as quickly as I could without disturbing the wounded. I fired up my Omni-tool as soon as I had an empty hallway to myself. I shot off a yellowjacket message to Admiral Hackett, warning him to watch the planet Nepheron for signs of Kohoku. I also shot off some inquiries on Dantius and Taylor. I had to know what else I had messed up. The Dantius inquiry pinged almost immediately. Apparently her crimes were grievous enough to offend the Order of Justicars. No loss there, the businesswoman had turned out to be psychotic. Nothing came up for Jacob Taylor. But that wasn't surprising. As a Corsair, actions weren't exactly public record. For now, all I could do was wait. And own up to the Commander. Promises were promises. I made to return to the Normandy. My path took me through the Valley Forge's mess hall. The hall was crowded, the two crews sat in two separate clumps at either end. As I passed, I caught snippets of conversation caught my attention.

"I still say that that's seriously not cool, man." Jenkins' voice rose above the general rabble. "Just ask… uh, ask Mike, he'll tell you." That caught my full attention. I found Jenkins sitting across from Dubyansky.

"Ask me what." I headed over to the table.

"There's nothing wrong with what I did." Dubyansky said stubbornly. "I mean, she's an alien." Jenkins shot him a disapproving look, then turned to me.

"Long story short, Alexei here's being a jerk, and he won't own up."

"Start at the beginning, guys." I said, "What's he done?" I took a seat and looked from one to the other. Neither seemed like they were going to back down.

"Jenkins is overreacting, all that happened was that quarian, Tali, she asked me on a date." Dubyansky said.

"You said no, I gather?" I could see why Jenkins might be getting mad. Tali was a sweet girl, when she wasn't browbeating you into turning yourself in to your superiors.

"He did more than that." Jenkins said, "What were your exact words, Alexei? 'You're a great friend, but I just don't feel comfortable going out with another species.'"

"Jenkins is right, man. You can't just say that." I stated flatly. Being a little uncomfortable around aliens you didn't know was understandable, the First Contact War was probably still fresh in the minds of a lot of humans' minds, but turning down someone as nice as Tali just for being quarian was harsh.

"I don't know why you asked Liddle anyway, everyone knows he prefers the taste of calamari." Dubyansky said haughtily.

"I… what? You know what, I have to see the commander anyway. Excuse me." I pushed away from the table. I hurried back to the Normandy. The ship was much emptier than usual. I strode down to the crew deck, trying to think of a way to explain my actions in a way that wouldn't get my ass thrown off the ship. I hadn't come up with anything by the time I arrived outside the Commander's cabin. I shook my head and murmured to myself, "Guess I'll be winging it then. Here goes…" I raised my hand to knock on the door. The door slid open to allow entrance and I stepped through.

"Commander, I…" I looked up to see Shepard sat at her desk. She had her hand halfway to her mouth, something red and juicy looking was grasped in her fingers.

"Shut the door, Deputy." She said, eyes narrowed, "Take a seat." I took the seat across from her. The object in her hand was a strawberry, taken from a bowl of them she had out on her desk. "Listen close, Liddle, it is strictly against regs to bring outside foodstuffs onboard an Alliance vessel, all kinds of health codes and quarantines and the like, you understand?"

"Yes," I said carefully. I watched the Commander's face, trying to figure out whether to start laughing, or running. She wore the mask she wore into combat, her game face. Something about it was different though; it tugged at the corners of her eyes. "I, uh, won't be telling anyone about this then."

"Good," Shepard said, relaxing the battle mask, "I'd hate to have to make you walk the plank, Joker always complains when I make him lug it around." The illusion of anger had totally faded by now. The friendly, 'I care about my crew' Shepard was now sitting in place of the warrior woman. "Now, was there something you needed?" she popped the fruit in her mouth and chewed luxuriantly.

"I wanted to talk about Binthu, I think I might be partly responsible." Shepard's expression didn't change.

"That's funny, Deputy. I don't see Admiral's stripes on your shoulders."

"Ma'am?"

"Look, Liddle, what happened at Binthu is terrible, but in the end, only one man is responsible, Rear Admiral Kohoku."

"But Commander, I was the one that set him off, I sent him this message…" the Commander put up a hand to stop me.

"Look, Liddle it takes a little more than a letter to set someone like Kohoku off on a rampage. I knew the man from my time on Elysium, trust me. No offence, but you're not God, your word doesn't exactly move mountains." She said kindly. Her words salved some of the worry that had been building up since the news of the attack had arrived.

"I suppose not, I guess I sounded kind of silly." I admitted.

"That you did, Deputy. I won't hold it against you though; it's all a part of your charm." Shepard smiled and pushed the bowl of strawberries over to me.

"You're not… flirting with me, are you, Commander?" I asked. Shepard looked stunned, but soon burst out into a loud bout of laughter. "Ouch, I was just asking." I said, a little hurt.

"No no no, it's not you." Shepard said between giggles, "It's just this is the second time I've been asked that today. I'll tell you the same thing I told Kaidan, you're not my type." The commander wiped her eyes and settled down.

"What, too tall?" I asked, interested.

"It's not that." Shepard said, "actually, if shipboard rumors are true, and I normally don't follow these, our tastes are pretty much the same." Dubyansky's comment came back to me.

"Wait, the asari? Commander, Liara and I are just friends." I said. Shepard shrugged.

"I wouldn't let her hear you say that. Now, since you're here, I wanted to go over our game plan for Noveria. It's a corporately owned colony, so we're going to need to be a bit more subtle than normal…"


	18. Chapter 18: New Arrivals

Interloper: Chapter 18

"So this is Arcturus Station." I stood at the exterior window as the Normandy transitioned from FTL over the spinning ring of the capital of the Systems Alliance. The smooth metal of the station turned under us as we moved closer. Behind me, a stream of returning crewmen walked across the docking tube that connected us to the Valley Forge.

"Yeah, that's Arcturus Station alright." Joker said, "It may look pretty big on the outside, but it's cramped as all hell in there." I watched the traffic buzz around the disk of the massive station. Like the Citadel, the station was surrounded by ships, both large and small. The huge shapes of Alliance dreadnaughts overshadowed the Normandy as it passed under them.

"Deputy Liddle?" I slowly turned away from the view to see Chief Ferro leaning on a pair of crutches. She had replaced the ruined flight suit I had found her in with the standard BDU.

"Chief, it's good to see you up and about." I said, "What brings you over to the Normandy?"

"I believe this is yours." Ferro shuffled forward and pulled something from behind her back. She dropped my folded Stinger into my hands. "It's a nice gun. Those are some nasty scars it's got there, though. One day you'll have to tell me the story that goes along with them." She backed off and threw me a loose salute before turning and hobbling back across towards her ship. I ran my fingers over the winding lines that had been etched into the pistol by the exploding beacon. I clipped it back onto my belt. The final crewmembers were now aboard. On the bridge, Joker was coordinating with the pilot of the Valley Forge. A slight tremor ran through the ship as the docking tube retracted. Out the front viewport, I saw the Valley Forge pull ahead and away from us, spiraling down to unload the wounded onto one of Arcturus Station's bays. The glimmer of an approaching shuttle caught my attention.

"Hey Joker, what's going on with that shuttle? Looks like it's coming straight at us." the shape had now grown more distinct. It was definitely one of the standard Alliance craft, but it looked like something was sung below it.

"That's because it is." Joker said, completely unfazed. "Those are our reinforcements. Looks like we've got a replacement for the Mako too."

"A new Mako?" I asked. I had forgotten about the damage I had taken in the fighting vehicle using it as free-floating weapons platform.

"Yeah, Adams wasn't too happy about the state you brought the old one back in. The shuttle's going to have to haul it away to be scrapped."

"It's going to be sad to see it gone." I said. I had run over a Maw in that tank. I understood the appreciation Alliance drivers had for the thing.

"Yeah, well, try not to break this one, okay?" Joker said. "You should head on down there, meet the newbies." I nodded. The thought of a new Mako was exciting. I walked back through the ship towards the cargo bay. The ship had returned to its usual business. It no longer felt as empty as it had on the trip back from the Armstrong system. Another, more marked change was the change in demeanor. The crew finally seemed to be able to relax, something they hadn't done since we ran into the Geth drones. Some crewmen were even smiling and laughing amongst themselves. The damage we had taken in the fight with the Geth cruiser and the airlifts on Casbin had already been mostly patched up, although some areas still looked a little rough in places. I stepped into the cargo elevator and hit the down button on the pad. When the doors opened, I almost gasped in shock. I was looking right out into empty space. It took me a second to remember the mass effect fields that held the atmosphere inside. The nose of the shuttle edged forward just outside the bounds of the field. The underslung Mako was unhooked and pulled forward by Normandy techs. The Mako's mass effect fields must have been active, because it floated weightlessly through the air above the deck. The tank was gently lowered to the ground in place of the hulk of the original, which must have already been pushed outside. The new Mako was a pristine white, with Alliance markings painted on in crisp lines.

"She's a thing of beauty, isn't she?" Jenkins walked up beside me, looking at the tank. "Makes me wonder what kind of terrible things you'll do to it next time you take it out." A cheeky grin was spread across his face.

"Hey, you were there all those times too." I replied, "Anyway, I think I'm going to take care of this one; It's shiny." The technicians had finished unhooking the Mako by now. The shuttle nudged its way past the barrier and set down beside the tank. With the Mako already parked, the shuttle ended up almost filling the entire space of the hold. The shuttle's door slid up and over, almost scraping the ceiling of the hold. The craft disgorged four marines, each dressed in battle dress uniform with a duffel bag slung over their shoulders. The first free looked like veterans, tough and battle-hardened. The last guy looked much younger, maybe even a little younger than me. They all had close shorn hair, even the woman who took up the lead of the small group. As the last guy left the shuttle, it closed its doors and retreated from the hold. The ramp closed up behind it with a grinding of machinery. Lieutenant Alenko greeted the new marines warmly, as if he knew at least some of them. I caught a flash of pale blue light as Alenko and the woman shook hands. She was a biotic.

* * *

><p>The new arrivals were quickly settled in, where they immediately set about shining thier armour and running maintenance on their weapons. They all toted assault rifles, but the biotic woman also carried a shotgun, while the younger guy had a sniper rifle. I surreptitiously watched them as I read my mail. Somehow, somewhere, my name had managed to find its way onto the extranet. While the fact that I now existed in the galaxy I had found myself in was oddly comforting, it had now opened up my personal mailbox to ungodly amounts of spam. At the bottom of the pile of junk offers, a single message stood out. The subject box contained a black box. The message prompted me to enter a password when I clicked on it. The message was an update on the Kohoku situation. The reply had come back along the chain of comm. buoys from one of Hackett's aides. According to the message, a task force had been mobilized to investigate an anonymous tip. They arrived at the planet Nepheron to find the place leveled. <em>At least this planet was uninhabited.<em> I thought. That was the end of my useful knowledge on Kohoku and Cerberus. I tapped my lip and wracked my brain for any information that I could use to stop the rogue admiral. I came up empty. I gave it up as a bad job and closed down my Omni-tool. By now the new arrivals had finished with their maintenance and left the crew barracks. I slipped off of my bunk and wandered down towards the mess hall. I felt the rumble of a mass relay transition and knew we were already on our way to Noveria. I wasn't looking forward to fighting the rachni. I bumped into Garrus coming the other way.

"Ah, Liddle, I was just looking for you." The turian said, "Those marines we just picked up brought some interesting new armour mods on board. I saved you a few pieces." He motioned for me to follow him. "Grab that rifle I gave you too, I have an idea." We stopped by my locker and hauled out the sack which held my armour and weapons. Down in the hold, Garrus led me over to the requisition officer's table. After looking around he pulled out a crate from under the table.

"What am I looking at?" I asked once he had tugged open the lid. I reached in and pulled out what felt and looked like a baggy fabric.

"It's a thermal layer to your armour. Noveria is so cold it's barely habitable. I had to pull out my old cold weather gear from my days back in the Hierarchy military."

"So long johns then?" I held up the padded suit. It was a light grey, with a black fibrous stitching running across it in a diamond pattern."

"A little more advanced than that," Garrus chuckled, "those fibers conduct heat from your hardsuit's kinetic barriers and spread it across your suit, as well as offering basic insulation. If you take apart your armour, I can help you thread it through."

"Alright, here. I'll start with the legs." The two of us took seats at the small table and began the job of insulating my armour. The work wasn't difficult, just time consuming. The fabric had to be pushed into the rubberized, soft part of the armour until it lay flush across the entire surface, then bonded to the shell with an electrostatic charge. I looked around the bay for something to talk about while we worked. My eyes fell on Engineering.

"So, did you hear about Tali and Dubyansky?" I asked.

"I didn't take you for someone who had much interest in gossip." Garrus replied. "But yes, I heard about their little… misunderstanding." The turian looked up from his work and shifted his focus onto me. "To tell the truth, I'm not surprised at what happened. Quarians aren't too popular, even amongst the Council races. When they created the Geth, they lost a lot of friends."

"Yeah, but that was hundreds of years ago. Tali didn't create the Geth." I replied. The nonchalant badmouthing of the quarians had caught me by surprise.

"Oh, I'm not denying that. In fact, the girl seems dead-set on correcting her people's mistakes. She risked her life to secure some data from the Geth outpost down on Casbin. The Commander almost had to drag her away from the console. There, that should do it." I picked up the suit of armour and held it up. It was now noticeably thicker.

"So you had an idea about the rifle?" I asked, drawing the rifle. It sprang open with a series of whirrs.

"Yes, I figured that your biggest issue was holding it steady, if you install a gyroscopic stabilizer in that thing, you should be in business."

"And you just so happen to have a gyroscopic stabilizer, I suppose."

"In fact I do, it'll need some calibrating, of course." He fished a small metal component from the crate and tossed it over. I caught the piece and set about putting it into place. It slid in easily enough. I scoped in on the wall across the way. Sure enough, the crosshairs moved much less. I laid aside the weapon and pulled out my pistol. If I was going over my weapons, I may as well check all of them. The pistol's ammo block release tab was sticky. Hitting it with my thumb didn't dislodge it.

"Come on, Cam, don't do this to me." I murmured, attempting to lever the thing open.

"Cam? Why would you name your weapon Cam?" Garrus looked over. He was working on his own weapon.

"Winona was taken." I replied, finally releasing the catch. The tungsten block inside was gnarled and broken. I tapped it out on the table and shoved in a block of shredder ammo. The block shimmered as light reflected off of the thousands of pre-cut leaf shapes. The weapon closed and opened freely after that.

"What is it with humans and naming your weapons women's names?" Garrus asked.

"I don't know. What's your gun's name then?" I asked.

"Laetus, after the turian spirit of Knowledge and Justice." Garrus said proudly. "I've had this rifle since before I joined C-Sec."

"And is Laetus a female spirit?" I asked. Garrus looked evasive. "I can just look it up on the extranet you know." I fired up my Omni-tool.

"Laetus is a spirit, it doesn't count." Garrus said defensively.

"You just keep telling yourself that." I said smugly. The ship shook with another transition. "We're really booking it."

"It seems that way. At this rate we'll be at Noveria in no time."

* * *

><p>Author's Notes:<p>

This is a special new month update. It won't effect the regular update schedule, I just had a surplus of buffer material. Just a heads up, I will be moving back home from school this week so some of the updates might be a little late. Other than that, thanks for all the feedback, I want to welcome any new readers and ask that those who've already reviewed keep letting me know what you think. See you on Thursday.

-Liddle Out


	19. Chapter 19: Noveria

Interloper: Chapter 19

The full conference room rang with muttered conversation. I sat back in my seat and watched the ring of my crewmates happily. To me, the scene represented a return to normalcy. The thought that sitting in a room on a spaceship with four different alien species made me chuckle inwardly. Commander Shepard took to the floor in the center of the room.

"Listen up, people. Now, I assume you all know the mission. We go in, find Benezia, stop the Geth. If I had my way we'd drop in marines, form a search grid, and be out of here in no time. However, Noveria is strictly regulated, they aren't going to take too kindly to Alliance military wandering around."

"They can't exactly say no to a Spectre." Kaidan said.

"Normally you'd be right." Liara interjected, 'However, Noveria has special dispensation from the Citadel Council to pursue a certain… autonomy. While they aren't going to risk a diplomatic incident by barring a Spectre, landing ground troops is likely to illicit a response."

"I agree with Doctor T'Soni." Shepard continued, "That's why we're going in light. That means Wrex, Ashley, and Kaidan, you are going to stay on the Normandy. I don't want to make anyone nervous with an overt military presence. Garrus, I want you to liaise with Port Hanshan security. You know how to talk to cops and we need local law enforcement on our side."

"I'll try, commander, I hear the local commandant is a real hardcase though." Garrus said.

"Tali and Liddle, I want you with me on this one."

"Commander, I should be on this mission." Liara spoke up. " I have local contacts and I've dealt with Noveria's researchers before."

"Are you sure, Liara? Chakwas tells me you aren't fully healed, and are you sure that running into the Matriarch won't be an issue?"

"There won't be an issue." Liara said stubbornly. Shades of the future Shadow Broker were seeping through again.

"Alright then, but I don't want you putting yourself in danger." Shepard relented.

"Thank you, Commander."

"Okay, any further questions?" Everyone shook their heads. "Good, everyone who's on the mission should suit up and gather at the airlock in 10. Everyone else, Dismissed."

* * *

><p>Wind whistled past the airlock door as the hatch rose. The fierce fingers of the Noverian blizzard plucked at the outer layers of my hardsuit. I was deeply thankful for the thermal layer Garrus had saved for me. Commander Shepard stepped out first into the gale. I followed carefully, wary of ice buildup on the metal deck. The wind pushed and tugged every which way.<p>

"Come on." Shepard's voice rang clearly in my helmet. The grey clad figure ahead of me motioned for us to follow. We pushed on across the dock, heading towards the glass doors into the capital city of the planet. As we approached, three figures came out to meet us.

"You'll have to stop right there." The lead figure said. Her black hair was pulled tightly back behind her head and she watched us carefully as we came to a stop. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you in until your credentials are confirmed."

"I'm a Council Spectre." Shepard said. "I'm on an important mission. I need to meet Matriarch Benezia." She took a step forward. The guards drew weapons on us, taking up firing stances. Around me, the others drew their own handguns. I backed up a step, not wanting to be in the line of fire should things go south.

"That's bull, captain. There are no human Spectres." The blonde to the left said with a sneer. "We should send them packing back to that tramp freighter they showed up in."

"Quiet, sergeant. The most recent reports do speak of a human being inducted into Special Tactics and Recon. And the commander here showed up in an Alliance frigate, hardly a tramp freighter." She turned to Shepard. "Commander, I'm afraid you'll have to relinquish your weapons until we conf…"

"Captain Matsuo, stand down!" A panicked voice yelled over the loudspeaker. "Let the Commander past, she and her party check out."

"Are you sure?" Captain Matsuo replied into her microphone. A second past as she clearly got a reply through her headset. "Alright. Looks like you are who you say you are. Continue through the checkpoint and check in with the front desk."

"And our weapons?" Shepard asked, lowering her own.

"You can keep your weapons, for now. Just know, if you end up having to use them, you'll have me to answer to." The sergeant gave us dirty looks as we filed into the first lobby. We walked past floating combat drones, which hung ominously with guns trained on us. As we stepped into a second lobby, alarms flashed and blared loudly.

"I'm sorry, they're just weapon detectors. You can come right through, Commander." The voice from outside said again. Commander Shepard warily walked through. I cracked my helmet seals as I followed. The air inside was a nice even temperature, which felt good after the confines of the suit. The others joined me in pulling their helmets. At the foot of the stairs into the city, a tall women with dark skin and a fashionable dress met us.

"I'm Gianna Parasini, administrative assistant to Administrator Anoleis. I want to welcome you to Port Hanshan and apologize for the… overzealousness of our security forces. We run a tight ship down here, you understand." I scrutinized the woman as Shepard talked to her. Knowing that Parasini was, in fact, a member of Noveria's internal affairs, made the act she put on here all the more impressive. She had the nervous countenance, the slow wringing of hands, I found myself almost convinced that she was genuinely worried about offending Shepard and her group. The conversation wound down and Parasini left, leaving a request that Shepard talk to her later. Shepard drew us aside and gave out our marching orders.

"Looks like things are a little tougher around here than we first thought. Garrus, talk to this Captain Matsuo, I want you to smooth over our first impressions. I'm going to talk to this Gianna Parasini. From the way she spoke, I think we may have just stepped into the middle of something big here. Tali, I want you to look into local news."

* * *

><p>Not being tech experts or former law enforcement officers, Liara and I were left with something to do. The asari suggested we find a café and eat something that wasn't prepackaged and heated in a pouch. It didn't take too long to find a place, the stairs at the back of the large courtyard led up and onto a street that hadn't been accessible in the game. It made sense that the capital city of a major colony world wouldn't be limited to two hallways and an atrium. The storefronts were elegant, yet understated. They looked just like the expensive haunts of high-pressure corporate executives. I felt very much out of place in my thick padded armour.<p>

"I remember this place being nice." Liara said at my ear. My eyes were drawn to an 'outdoor' café, with chairs and tables set out on a tiled patio. "Although I think they have redecorated since I last came here."

"Seems as nice a place as any." I said dubiously. The food being eaten by the patrons already seated was strange and alien, and in small portions. "You sure we can get in? Looks kind of exclusive."

"I have my ways." Liara laughed. She walked up to the hostess and struck up a conversation. Apparently one of Liara's old professors was a regular, which was enough to get a seat. The menu was full of dishes I had never heard of and some very high numbers.

"Um, Liara, I don't think I can afford anything here, I'm not exactly being paid to save the galaxy." I said. "Also, I'm not sure what any of these things are."

"Don't worry, I have some grant money left. Enough to cover a lunch at least. As for what to order, I hear the soup is nice. A delicacy on Kahje in fact." She shuffled through her own menu. A waiter stopped by and took our orders and we settled into silence. I tried unsuccessfully to gain access to the local extranet. The available ports all seemed to either be locked or pay-per-gigabyte. The food arrived and we started eating. The soup turned out to be some sort of algal bloom in brine, which I should have seen coming when I ordered a dish favoured by an aquatic species. I sat chewing on algae and trying to get an angle on the newscast playing across the way for what seemed like an age. I was just about to get up and try to get a better view when the voice of Commander Shepard came through the radio.

"All teams, meet in the atrium. We've got some leads on Benezia."

* * *

><p>Liara and I were the last to arrive in the atrium. The rest of the squad had found a secluded corner to talk in.<p>

"Here's the situation," Shepard began as we arrived, "I met with Parasini, and it turns out the local administrator, Anoleis, is dirty. Also, it turns out Matriarch Benezia did come through here not too long ago. She's actually been making fairly regular stops, each time bringing in heavy crates. On this last trip she disappeared into Binary Helix's Peak 15 research facility."

"So we want to get to this 'Peak 15' then." Tali said, "Why don't we just fly over there in the Normandy, or take a shuttle?"

"Anoleis is blocking us, and the storm outside is too rough for a shuttle, we'll have to drive over. But before we do that, we're going to have to deal with the administrator. Garrus, did you get a good read on the captain of security? If we dig up some evidence on Anoleis, will she move to take him down?"

"The captain's clean, I'm sure of it. She won't tolerate corruption once she has irrefutable proof. I'm not sure about her sergeant, she really doesn't like you, but she doesn't sound like someone on the take."

"Good, we have a lead on a turian who might have information on Anoleis, but I want more options. Anyone?"

Liara spoke up uncertainly. "I used to know someone, he helped me out when I was delivering a dissertation here." She paused as everyone turned to look at her. "He collected… I guess you' call it blackmail material. He might have something."

"You follow up on that." Shepard ordered. "Take Liddle with you. Tali and Garrus you come with me. We meet up in 30 if nothing shows up."

We broke off and headed for our objectives. I followed Liara as she slipped through the crowds of executives. We passed the brightly lit storefronts and restaurants, ending up in a slightly darker area of Hanshan.

"So how do you know this guy? You don't strike me as a girl who goes around blackmailing people." I said as we turned off into an alley.

"I'm not." Liara said, slightly flustered. "He was actually contracted to blackmail me. Some of the Matriarchs didn't like my theories on the Protheans. They got this broker to stop me from giving my presentation. I was much younger then; he felt sorry for me and ended up backing off."

"That was nice of him."

"Not really, he ended up getting the event I was speaking at cancelled."

"Oh. Is this the place?" we had stopped in front of a club.

"Yes, this is it. Let me do the talking." I followed as she stepped up to the bouncer. She was able to bluff our way in. the club was relatively well lit, and the music had been turned down for daytime operation. Liara scanned the room. "He's not here. Most likely he's in the VIP room." she motioned towards a door in the back, flanked by two gruff looking turians.

"Can you get us in?" I asked. Liara shook her head. "Sounds like you'll need a distraction then."

"What are you thinking?" Liara said carefully.

"Just be ready to move." I said. I strode up to the bar and found a particularly surely looking human. I tapped him on the shoulder. "My friend doesn't like you." I said, pointing to a large krogan sitting in the corner.

"Piss off, kid." The guy growled.

"I don't like you either." I continued, trying not to laugh. The man turned to face me.

"What's your problem, kid. You want to end up dead?"

"You think you can take me?" I chided, playing up the bombast. The man only laughed.

"Looks like someone needs to teach you a lesson." The man stood, knocking over his chair. I was ready for him. Behind my back, I activated my Omni-tool. I readied one of my close combat programs. The program was designed to wrap my fist in hard light, making my punches hit harder. As the tool began to glow, I felt something wrong. The kinetic barriers fired out of sequence, twisting my hand into a painful shape. The distraction proved dangerous, as the guy threw a punch. It connected with my face and rocked me back. My encased hand struck the bar counter awkwardly on the way to the floor, knocking a drink to the floor. The owner of the drink turned to see my original target bearing down on me. He took a swing at the angry human, knocking him back into another patron in the process. The fight spread throughout the club, drawing the attention of the guards. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Liar slip into the back room. I looked up to see one of the patrons grab me roughly by the front of my hardsuit. I swung my gauntleted hand at his head and managed to push myself back to my feet. By now the melee was in full swing. I took another shot at my attacker, receiving some hard knocks in return.

"Elanus Risk Control Services! Everyone on the ground, now!"


	20. Chapter 20: The Road to Peak 15

Interloper: Chapter 20

"Hold still." I jerked back from the application of omni-gel. The sting of the non-medicated nanoagents shot across the bruises and cuts on my face.

"Thanks, Liara." I wiped my sleeve across my face. My other arm, the one caught in the grips of my Omni-tool, was being looked at by Tali.

"How did you even manage this?" she asked, manipulating the gauntlet. "The mass effect emitters are all out of whack, and it looks like the interface has been scrambled. Wait… what's this?" she squinted behind her mask. "Is this the program you were trying to use? Keelah, Michael, how many of these third-party programs do you have running? I thought you were smarter than this. Here, I'll just delete this here..." The gauntlet loosened. "You should probably run a check through whatever you've loaded onto this thing."

"I'll be more careful." I assured her. Someone walked up in front of me and cleared their throat. I looked up to see an angry Shepard.

"You look like crap, Deputy." She said, arms crossed.

"You should have seen the other guy." I quipped. Shepard didn't laugh.

"Well I bet the other guy isn't about to be saddled with a whole mess of paperwork for starting a barfight in a tightly regulated port city." She tossed me an optical disk. "Did you at least get the information you needed?"

"I'm sorry Commander, no. My contact didn't have anything on Anoleis."

"I guess you're lucky we were more successful then. Our contact, Lorik Qui'in, wants us to find some files in the Synthetic Insights office. Those files will get us a garage pass, and Synthetic Insights will chip in a Mako."

"And you want us to help infiltrate the offices?" I asked.

"No, _you_ will fill out that paperwork. Tali, I'm going to need you to hack us into the offices." The quarian nodded and stood to follow the Commander. "Liara, you come too, I've got a feeling this might turn rough. She turned and walked away with the two aliens in tow. Liara made an apologetic face over her shoulder as they entered an elevator.

* * *

><p>After what seemed like hours of mind-numbing paperwork, Shepard and her team moved quickly away from the elevator. They spotted me and jogged over to my table.<p>

"Up and at 'em, Deputy." Shepard tossed me a Mako key. "Finish your paperwork later, we have to move now." Her voice was tinted with urgency and her eyes flitted from me to the security guards barely meters away.

"Aye, ma'am." I jumped up and followed the squad as they headed back towards the garage.

"We ran into some resistance sweeping the officers for evidence. I was right about that sergeant, crooked as they come." Garrus whispered to me as we walked.

"You mean you get into a firefight with security forces, and I get in trouble for starting a bar fight?" I said incredulously.

"To be fair, you did start that one." Garrus replied. He quieted as we walked into the open garage. "I got a bad feeling about this." He said.

"You and me both." I said, scanning the area for evidence of the Geth and trying to find the nearest cover. Ahead of us, a crate rattled. I drew my shotgun.

"Relax, Deputy, it's probably just…" Shepard started, but at that moment a red dot appeared on her chestplate.

"Ambush!" I yelled, moving to knock the Commander out of the way. Garrus was faster though. He dove forward, knocking Shepard down and turning his momentum into a roll that carried him out of the line of fire not a second too soon. A white hot sliver of metal tore through the space he had just vacated. In the back of the garage, crates burst open, revealing more Geth.

"At least now we know what was in those crates!" Garrus yelled.

I dove behind a thick stack of tires. Shots slammed into the thick rubber at my back. I ducked around the stack and fired blindly. I didn't hit anything, but the distraction was enough for the others to take cover and draw pistols. I hazarded a second glance, this time taking aim at a Geth platform. The shotgun blast tumbled the trooper. Its lights grew dark. The team kept firing, driving the Geth back.

"Follow them!" Shepard ordered, leaping the crate she was hiding behind. I fired from the hip, catching another Geth with a lucky scatter and readied to move up. Something landed heavily behind me. I turned slowly to find a hopper staring at me. I ducked to the left and the Geth matched me, the same to the right. The Geth reared up on its legs and shrieked its rattling scream. The single eye seemed to be studying me. Shots ricocheted off its barriers and the hopper bolted.

"Come on, Deputy, the Mako's just up ahead!"

"Yeah, I'm coming!" I yelled back. The hopper had disappeared completely. I left the now empty back of the garage and headed towards the waiting Mako.

* * *

><p>The company Mako was probably the first example I had seen of a 'luxury' infantry fighting vehicle. The seats were plush, the back actually held a bar, and the walls where paneled with viewscreens displaying the environment beyond the armoured shell. The finely tuned engine hummed under the touch of the pedals.<p>

"Hey Commander, can we keep this one?" I asked as I pulled out into the blizzard.

"That's a negative, Deputy. And try not to destroy this one, it's a rental."

The white snow engulfed us as we plunged down into the valley.

"Those are some pretty extreme drops." Garrus commented.

"The companies here on Noveria have always been paranoid." Liara added, "Putting their labs out here helps to cut down on espionage."

"I bet the Geth cut down on espionage too, we've got company." Shepard pointed to the black shapes o the viewscreen. "Garrus, get on the gun." The turian clambered up into the gunner's seat and lined up on the rapidly approaching Geth forces. The bright lance of the cannon blasted the attackers apart. The robotic footsoldiers scattered or were destroyed. I drove right past them. Garrus turned and continued to fire into the retreating Geth.

"We're coming up to a bridge." I said, "Looks like a good place for a roadblock."

Sure enough, rockets began flying as we entered the mouth of the tunnel. The narrow deck of the bridge restricted my motion, but with speed I was able to avoid most of the damage. Halfway across the bridge, the Geth laid out a row of their hexagonal shields.

"Garrus!"

"On it!" the cannon flashed out and knocked holes in the line of barriers. More popped up behind, forming a second rank of hard light. "I don't think this is going to cut it, Liddle." I searched the instrument panel for something to get us out of this mess. The wink of a light caught my attention. The jump jets rocked the tank up and over the Geth barrier just in time. The tires crunched as the vehicle landed on the Geth engineers. Now streaming past the bridge, the road grew narrower and more treacherous. Other than the occasional sniper shot taken at distance, the drive grew eerily quiet.

"Where did they go?" Tali asked, peering into the monitors around her. "It makes no sense to set up one roadblock and then disappear."

"Maybe we destroyed all of the Geth that Benezia brought with her." Liara said.

"She's been shipping in these crates for a while now, I don't think she just brought a few dozen foot troops and had done with it." Shepard said. She was also scanning the canyon walls with a fierce intensity. We reached a second bridge without seeing another Geth. By then I was getting worried. This drive should have been a steady stream of random encounters as we made our way towards the research facility.

"Commander, is there any chance we can get the Normandy to do a flyover and look for heat signatures or something?" I asked.

"Through this?" Shepard replied, "The resolution would make any data we got back almost unusable. Also the Normandy's on lockdown until Parasini makes her case against Anoleis. She'll unlock us once he's in custody."

My reply was cut short by a blast that took out a section of the road.

"Where did that come from?" I yelled. More shots came out of the blizzard, falling all around the Mako. Not being able to see the origin, I pushed the accelerator to the floor and attempted to weave around the continued bombardment.

"Try and pinpoint where those shots are coming from!" Shepard yelled. Garrus swung about and fired into the blankness.

"I can't see anything!" the turian yelled down. A chance gust lifted the snow from the valley, revealing the opposite cliff face. It was studded with Geth turrets, each pumping out a solid stream of rockets. Garrus aimed carefully, managing to knock out a few, but the concealment returned. "Commander, that many turrets, we're not going to make it very far."

"We keep moving, look, there's another tunnel coming up. We can take cover there. Keep the pressure on the other side of the valley." I sped up, trying to reach the mouth of the tunnel before the road became impassable. The Mako shot through the opening just in time to avoid another volley. I brought the tank to a stop. "Do we have a map of this valley?" Shepard said over the dulled crash of rockets on the outer wall of the tunnel.

"I downloaded one as we passed through Port Hanshan." Tali said. "I can bring it up on one of these vidscreens." One of the rear view screens was replaced by an image of the winding path we had taken. "It looks like we're only halfway to Peak 15."

"I think this loop might give us some cover if we take it like this…" the squad conversed behind me. I looked forward, worried. Dust was starting to filter down from the ceiling with every blast, and the ground was starting to shake rhythmically. And completely at odds with the tattoo of rocket hits.

"I think we might have company." I said, peering into the darkness. The squad didn't hear me, still talking about snowdrifts and slopes. "Hey, guys, I said I think we might…" I turned and stopped. Out the back of the Mako, I saw something that chilled my blood. Two Geth Armatures were laboring down the slope into the tunnel. I looked forward into the tunnel. In the darkness, the light of a further Geth construct lit up. "We've got to go!" I slammed down on the gas again. The acceleration tossed the squad about in the back of the Mako, knocking Garrus out of his perch. The Mako's headlights now illuminated the massive Geth platform. With no room to dodge, I plowed straight ahead. At point blank range, Garrus managed to grab a hold of the firing paddles and fired into the Geth. The kinetic barriers flashed as they clashed with our own. I veered right, running over the Geth's legs. The metal emitted a tortured shriek. The Mako roared out of the tunnel and back into the storm. Almost immediately the barrage started back up.

"We'll just have to hold on!" Shepard yelled. "Take this turn nice and shallow, the crest there should provide cover until the straightaway, then it'll be a mad dash to reach the next tunnel before we reach the Peak!"

* * *

><p>"Is that it?"<p>

"It looks massive."

"And surprisingly Geth free." The central spire of Peak 15 rose up out of view. I craned my neck to look up at the tower. "How do we play this Commander?"

"Pull up as close as possible, nice and slow. I don't want to be stuck out in the cold if things turn south." I complied, driving the battered Mako up to the double doors. The engine idled and died. "Take point, Garrus. We go in eyes open. We don't know what we'll meet once we open those doors, might be more Geth, might be Krogan, might even be Asari commandos."

"Commander, we're not exactly loaded for combat." Garrus said. "Tali and Liddle have shotguns, but the rest are sporting handguns."

"Then keep your eyes out for additional firepower once we get in there. Odds are a facility like this one had a security detail. Now move." Garrus dogged open the hatch and hopped out onto the hard packed ice. I scooped up my helmet and followed. Dropping down into place beside the door, Tali ran a bypass. The rest of the team stacked up, ready for action. The door cracked open and sucked a puff of outside air in. Garrus advanced over the dusting of fallen snow into the dimly lit opening.

"Here we go."


	21. Chapter 21: Affecting Repairs

Interloper: Chapter 21

The inside of the facility was eerily silent as we moved through the first room. Even through my padded undersuit the air felt chilled. The suits of the team ahead of me emitted little puffs of visible condensation with every breath.

"I'm getting movement." Garrus said, "It's all over the place. Maybe a malfunction?"

"Anything in the room up ahead?" Shepard asked.

"No, it's completely dead in there." Garrus said. "The only thing moving on this level is us. We push on?"

"Yes, take it slow, people. Looks like the base has taken some damage, life support is offline. I don't want us walking into another ambush." Garrus nodded and pushed aside the doors to the next room. It opened out into a wide and tall hanger with overhanging catwalks. I peered about, looking for the Geth that I knew should be scattered about the room. Nothing made itself obvious.

"Commander, I'm seeing weapons lockers on the far wall."

"I see them too. Liddle, secure the lockers. Everyone else should be watching for any sign of attack." Shepard ordered. I walked forward towards the lockers with my eyes and ears straining to pick up any evidence of the ambushing troops. Inside the confines of my helmet, all I could hear was my own breathing, and the visor began to fog up. As I stepped up to the lockers, I cracked the seals and yanked off the helmet. The rush of cold air stung my eyes, but the clarity of hearing allowed me to pick up the faintest of rattles. I turned to see a shadow move on the wall. My eyes snapped up. A shape unfolded from one of the upper catwalks. The shape of a Geth. Before I could bring my gun to bear, Garrus yelled out.

"Movement, all around us!" I fired at the Geth, staggering it. I turned to the locker and jammed the opening keys. The locker slid open neatly to reveal a rack of low powered assault rifles. Behind me the team opened up on their attackers. I dropped my shotgun and grabbed two of the rifles.

"Shepard!" I tossed the rifles and turned for two more. The lack of clunks indicated they had been caught. Something grabbed me roughly by the shoulder. It whipped me around and brought me face to face with another Geth unit. The white armoured shock trooper shrieked at me and tossed me aside. I hit the ground hard, dropping the rifle. The Geth rounded on me and made to grab me again. I drew my pistol and fired. The shots skipped off of the shock troopers barriers as it advanced. It reached out its metal fingers to grab at my neck.

"Liddle, cover your eyes!" Tali's voice rang out. I did so, leaning as far away from the Geth as I could. The characteristic sound of an overload firing accompanied a wash of static electricity that sparked across my own shields. I looked up to see the Geth writhing as lines of electricity arced across it. I shuffled backwards and fired at it. Without its shields I was able to knock it out of the fight. I leapt to my feet as the war cries of angry krogan filled the room. I dashed for my shotgun and whirled towards the sound. Already the rest of the team was firing at them, Liara's biotics mixing with the tech powers of Garrus and Tali. The expected three attackers turned out to be five. As the closest to the foot of the catwalk, I found myself facing down a charge of teeth and muscle. Deciding discretion was the better part of valour, I ducked behind the lockers and hoped the krogan wouldn't follow. They didn't, the fire of the team distracting them. I stepped out and picked up my shotgun, hitting them in the back. Between the pressure from in front of them and my sneak attack, the krogan went down one by one until the last one fell to a burst from Shepard.

"Are we clear?" she asked. The group had kept a roughly circular position in the middle of the room, using some abandoned crates for cover. Garrus was bleeding pretty badly, but Liara was tending to his wounds.

"No further movement, Commander." Garrus coughed, "Make of that what you will." The turian waved off the asari.

**User Alert: All Peak 15 Facilities have suffered a great deal of damage. Biohazard materials present throughout facility. Virtual Intelligence interface is offline.**

"That alarm, it sounds like something got out of the labs." Garrus commented, "That would explain the heating being shut off, some kind of containment feature."

"Perhaps Benezia unleashed something on the scientists." Liara said harshly.

"Whatever happened, we're not going to find out what's going on from here. The krogan came from somewhere up on that catwalk. If they were with Benezia, I'm going to bet that's the way to go. And Garrus, pay a little more attention to those movement readings next time."

"I'm sorry, the Geth must have stayed stock still. I don't know how I missed the krogan though; I doubt they could have held their breath to save their lives." Garrus said.

"Perhaps they masked their own movement with whatever is moving in the upper levels." Tali said helpfully.

"Perhaps," Shepard interjected, "We should move." This time I was first up the ramp. The team picked up weapons from the dead as they passed. We reached the security checkpoint without incident. The inwards facing security turrets swiveled as we approached, but held fire.

"Why would they point the turrets in?" Tali asked. "Shouldn't they be trying to keep intruders out?"

"They must be part of the containment measures." Shepard said, "Keep moving."

"What was that?" Liara asked. I heard the skittering too, but kept quiet. At the end of the checkpoint we came to a security office. Shepard drew a sniper rifle from a locker on the wall, along with a handful of grenades.

"These might come in handy," she said, passing one to each of us. "Don't go wasting them; we don't know if we'll find replacements."

I tucked the grenade into my launcher and wandered off towards the elevator in the back of the room. Its doors slid open smartly.

"I guess the base's containment procedures didn't include locking down the elevators." I quipped.

"I guess they were banking on the fact that viruses can't work the controls." Shepard said. "Can you get it working?" I punched the up arrow and the elevator chimed. I quickly found the hold key and kept it pressed.

"Express elevator, going up." Shepard nodded and signaled for the team to enter the lift. I released the hold key and the doors closed with a swish.

* * *

><p>The elevator dropped us off onto another empty hallway. In the background, the VI continued to announce the various damages that had been inflicted on the facility.<p>

"Garrus?" Shepard said.

"Definitely a lot of movement. Whatever's in the next hallway sure isn't holding its breath." Garrus replied. The team slowly stalked down the hallway with weapons trained at the door at the end. Again we heard the skittering within the walls. My heart pounded in anticipation, the Geth and then the krogan had left me shaken. I gripped my shotgun tightly and steeled myself as I reached the door. The door slid silently open.

"What the hell is that!" exclaimed Garrus. At the foot of a set of stairs, a monstrous insectoid creature reared up at us. Its body was fat and curved, terminating in a beaked head with beady black eyes. Two pods opened and closed on the end of whippy tentacles. The thing howled a challenge and snapped its split beak. The rachni.

"Assume hostile! Take this thing down!" Shepard yelled as she shouldered her rifle. We unleashed a hail of shots into the angry insect. The penetrator rounds fired by the rest of the team past neatly through the beast, causing minimal damage. My own shredder rounds ripped ugly gashes in the rachni's abdomen. It gave a last, haunting shriek and collapsed.

"I've got more movement!" Garrus warned. We swung around, looking for the source. Tali was the first to spot them.

"They're coming out of the walls! Look!" my eyes flicked upwards. A swarm of the smaller worker drones were making their way out of vents and pipes, some skittering across the wall surface while some simply dropped to the ground with a sharp clap of chitin.

"Don't let them touch you!" I yelled as I took aim at one of the nearest. It became a greasy stain on the metal floor.

"We need to keep moving!" Shepard yelled. "They're just going to keep coming!"

"Commander, we've got more of the big ones!" Garrus called as he fired at the new arrivals. I turned my own gun on one of them and moved up the hall. The rachni shrieked and whipped one of its tentacle pods at me. The pod unleashed a torrent of greenish goo which left a burning trail across the floor where it fell.

"Since when did they spit acid!" I ducked away from the sizzling furrow in the floor and continued shooting. Behind me, Liara unleashed her biotics on the wounded insect. It writhed, as if in pain, as it was lifted from the floor.

"They seem to be sensitive to biotics." Liara said as she sent the lifted rachni flying with a well aimed throw. It hit the wall with a splat and lay still. She repeated the maneuver on another, and then another rachni. Seeing the warriors killed one by one, the workers skittered back into the tunnels and vents.

"Everyone alright?" Shepard asked after the last parting shots petered out.

"My amp is hot, commander, it will be some time before I can attempt to use my biotics again." Liara said groggily.

"I think that acid put a hole in my boot." Garrus commented. "No harm to my foot though." The voice of the VI rang out again. "That is really starting to get on my nerves."

"I suggest we take the next elevator, schematics I pulled from the security office say the VI core should be accessible from the next level up." Tali said.

* * *

><p><strong>User Alert: All Peak 15 Facilities have suffered a great deal of damage. Biohazard materials present throughout facility. Virtual Intelligence interface is offline.<strong>

"We get it!" Shepard cursed as we put down another warrior rachni. The hallway we had exited onto had swarmed with more of the large insects. From caver, we had managed to kill most of them without the help of Liara's overtaxed biotics, but the last few were being tricky. One had taken cover behind a rib that stuck out from the wall and was lashing our cover with thick strands of its acid.

"I think this might call for a grenade!" I called over the insistent voice of voice of the station VI. The Commander nodded. I whipped the grenade over the cover, landing it just behind the hiding insect. The blast blew the rachni out into the middle of the hall, where it was mowed down. "Looks like the last of them, Commander."

"Looks that way. Maybe now we'll get some answers." She walked up to the elevator helpfully marked 'VI Core.' "There isn't room for the whole team on this thing, Tali is coming with me, the rest of you keep watch." The two descended into the bowels of the facility's computer core. I walked over and took a seat next to Liara, who was cradling her head in her hands.

"You okay?" I asked, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I should be. I don't think I've ever exerted myself quite that much." Her voice sounded less strained now, and more alert. "I switched out my amp, which helped a lot. I should be ready if we are attacked again."

"Don't overexert yourself, its better if you rest up and give 110% later, than get yourself hurt here." I echoed Commander Shepard's advice. Liara smiled at me and said.

"Someone's been spending too much time with the Commander." I laughed quietly.

"Maybe. She knows what she's talking about though." We were interrupted by a new VI announcement.

**User Alert: Hardlines the Rift Station disconnected. Generator Helium-3 lines have been disabled.**

"That sounds like progress." I said cheerily. I stood as the elevator returned to our level. The Commander looked confident.

"You heard the VI?" she asked. We gathered around and muttered our agreements. "Here's how we're going to play this, the VI says something broke out in the Hot Labs over at Peak 15's Rift Station. That's where Binary Helix run their biological agent testing. She doesn't know what these things are, and she can't tell us anymore before we plug the hardlines in. And, as I'm sure you've noticed, it's getting very cold in here. If we don't fix the generator soon, we'll end up freezing alongside these bugs. Liddle, you and Liara are going to the roof to plug in the hardlines. It should be pretty easy and there's a VI terminal to assist you. I will take the rest of the team down to patch the Helium-3 lines. We meet back here once our job is done and take the tram into the Rift station. Move fast, the VI said there may be survivors in the labs, time is key if we want to rescue anyone." I nodded and followed the signs for roof access. The elevator ride up was even colder than the rest of the base. I reaffixed my helmet before reaching for the door.

"You ready?" I asked Liara.

"Yes, I am ready." She replied. She readied her pistol, and I readied my shotgun. The doors opened to a roar of sound and snow. We leant heavily into the gale as we stumbled across the blustery rooftop.

"I think the hardlines are over there!" I yelled, pointing past the great cylindrical tanks and array of ductwork. I threw my leg over one of the great pipes and wrestled my way towards the hardline junction. The junction itself was a great tangle of cables. Where the incoming line and the outgoing cabling met, a large boxy socket sat suspended by motored arms. The arms held the connection open. "This is it; I think we just push it closed." I hazarded. I leaned on the connection box. The arms gave a little but an already thick cover of ice stopped it from closing all the way. "Damn it."

"I could use my biotics to weaken the ice." Liara suggested.

"No, I don't want you hurting yourself." I said, offhandedly. I wracked my brain for a solution. _Try and use that flamethrower program I picked up? No, that would probably just backfire. Try and chip it out? That would take too long._ _Just shoot it? No that would break …_

"I've got an idea!" I lifted my shotgun into the sky and fired a few quick bursts. Once the gun began to beep an imminent overheat warning, I lay the weapon alongside the hinges and squeezed a shot off into the nearby rock face. The gun bucked and vented hot air over the connection box. I repeated the steps twice while Liara threw her weight into the box. Finally, with a squeal of protest, the box snapped shut. The nearby terminal began to glow brightly, signifying a connection.

"I think it's time to go!" Liara yelled, ""I'm beginning to lose feeling to my…" behind her, shapes emerged from the snow.

"More Geth!" I yelled, diving for cover. The Geth platforms peppered the ducting with holes. Steam escaped, which must mean Shepard had succeeded in getting the power back on.

"Where did they come from? They couldn't have followed us up, could they?" Liara dropped in beside me and aimed a quick shot to the head of the nearest platform. It didn't penetrate the barriers, but the squash-head rounds the asari had found knocked the Geth down into the valley below.

"Maybe there's a dropship hiding out there." I scanned the sky. The clouds yielded no answers.

"I certainly hope not." Liara replied. She knocked down another Geth. The remaining Geth charged and fired. A stray round caught me in the shoulder, bypassing my shields and burying itself deep into my shoulder. I went down clutching at the wound. The raw cold stabbed like needles at the deep cut in my undersuit.

"Michael!" Liara threw the last Geth out into the gale with a burst of biotic thunder. She clutched at her head and dropped her pistol. "Here, let me help you." She reached to pull my hand away from the wound, but I kept it tightly gripped. Exposing the gash to the wind hurt too much. "I said, let me help you." Liara's eyes flashed to completely black. The wind seemed to die down, leaving only the voice of the asari in my headset. "I'm going to take the hand away. I need to apply medigel. Will you let me do that?" against my blind reaction to the pain, I nodded. Liara gently lifted my arm. The icy cold was covered by a warm feeling of liquid binding itself to the cut, sealing against the wind. Liara's eyes snapped back to their usual deep blue and the wind came crashing back.

"What the hell was that?" I spluttered.

"I am sorry," Liara looked abashed, "It is a technique for dealing with squabbling children. I shouldn't have used it without your permission."

"S'alright." I slurred, the blood loss was making me dizzy. "I wasn't thinking. Help me up?" the asari threw my arm around her neck.

"Let's get back inside; the Commander must be waiting for us."


	22. Chapter 22: Inevitable Betrayal

Interloper: Chapter 22

"… up after them. I know the VI says the hardlines have been reconnected, but if they're stuck up there…" the team was having a heated conversation as we stepped out of the elevator.

"Reporting for duty, Commander." I said. The rest of the team stood, looking relieved. "You get anything more out of the VI."

"Yes, actually. The VI hasn't exactly been cooperative, but through questioning it looks like whatever these things are, they came from the Rift Station labs. Binary Helix made them."

"They made them?" Liara asked.

"It looks like it." Shepard confirmed. "Also, we now have access to the tram station. Tali repaired the decontamination system and managed to clear a path through. We were just debating whether or not to come get you."

"I want you to know I had nothing against you, Liddle. It's just the survivors don't have much longer." Garrus said contritely.

"I'll remember that next time I have to pull your scaly ass out of the fire, Vakarian." I said. "So are we good to go or what?"

"Are you good to go, Deputy? Looks like you took some hits." Shepard looked concerned. I nodded.

"It's not as bad as it looks, the arm's shot, but I can still fight." I had used a dot of omni-gel to spot weld the injured arm to my chest and immobilize the joint. The limb hung awkwardly in front of me, but the medigel blocked out the pain.

"Okay, stay behind us when we go in. The tram's just through this way. We go in hot, extract the surviving scientists, and we find out what Saren's stake in this whole event is. Got it?"

"Got it, Commander."

* * *

><p>The tram ride was long and cold. It was also eerily quiet. I looked out over the edge at the dark tunnel around us. Occasionally my audio pickups would catch the slight hint of scrabbling, or Garrus' motion tracker would blip briefly. The whole ordeal was nerve-wracking. The numbness in my shoulder was also bothering me. It itched around the edges. I shone my light down into the depths of the tunnel.<p>

"It's a long way down." Garrus commented.

"Sure is." I replied. "Wouldn't want to fall down there." A skittering above brought our attention back to the tram. "That one sounded closer."

"We're nearing the station, get ready." Shepard readied her assault rifle. The rest of the team stacked up around the doors. The tram slid into the dock with a scraping crunch, as if it was dragging something long with it. Shepard stepped out onto a well lit platform. The harsh light of the tram cast hard shadows off the benches and discarded litter that dotted the deck.

"Don't bunch up, check those corners." Shepard stepped over an upturned barrel. "Secure the room." We spread out, trying the doors. As I had expected, the doors to the hot labs and the maintenance section were locked out, even to attempted bypass.

"Over here." Shepard indicated the door marked barracks.

"I'm getting more movement up here; it's less erratic than before." Garrus said.

"Friendlies?"

"From their positioning; most likely. Looks like a cordon."

"Why don't we go say hello? If these are friendlies, I don't want us getting into a firefight. Keep your weapons ready, but don't fire unless I give the order." We stepped into the elevator and spread out as much as possible within the space. Tali hit the switch, sending us up. This ride was shorter, but the reception was a lot louder.

"Shit cap, we got movement in the shaft!"

"Prepare to fire! We've got 'em pinned, boys!"

"They're people! Hold your fire!"

"Council Spectre, lower your weapons!" Commander Shepard yelled the last sentence. The white clad security officers seemed cowed, but their captain stared us down, gun raised. "I won't say it again."

"Do as she says, they're obviously not those things." The guards stepped back and lowered their rifles. We did the same. "Captain Ventralis, I'm head of the security forces her at Rift Station. Did the Company send you?"

"No, we're here investigating the sighting of asari Matriarch Benezia. You know anything about her?" Shepard asked. A barely perceptible ripple went through the guards at her name.

"Can't say I do," said Ventralis, "I just watch the doors. Listen…" There was a shriek of more rachni behind us. The aliens heaved themselves out of vents in the ground and rushed our position. Our team fell in beside the guards and poured shot after shot into the advancing enemy. One guard went down as the rachni spat acid. I fired my handgun one handed, scoring hits thanks to the extreme close range. Our fire was joined by the chatter of sentry turrets, which tore the rachni to gooey shreds. The insects withdrew, chittering, into the vents they had swarmed out of. Several of the guards kicked the corpses of their fallen in after them.

"They started coming less often when we started doing that." The captain noted. "We thing they eat their wounded. It's been a close thing, Commander, thank God we found these sentries, we would have been overrun a long time ago."

"How long, exactly, have you been here?" Shepard asked.

"It's hard to say." The captain seemed to struggle for words for a second. "Maybe a week or two. Listen, Commander, the men haven't slept, they're getting jumpy. I've got everyone on stims, but… I don't know. Talk to the scientists. They might be more together." The captain returned to his post. Shepard gave him an odd look, but waved us forward. The tunnel down to the barracks was empty, each step echoed as we walked forward. The tunnel opened up into a large bay full of crates. Scientists stood scattered around the room. The feel of unease was almost palpable in the air.

"Stay here; I want a word with whoever's in charge." Shepard headed towards the nearest cluster of scientists. We gathered together in our own huddle.

"Do you notice something off about these people?" Garrus asked.

"They're tired, Garrus. The captain said they've been out here for almost two weeks. I know I couldn't sleep with the threat of those things out there." Tali said, doing a full body shiver for emphasis.

"No, he's right, it's something else." I chimed in. "Like they're hiding something." The seed seemed to take root.

"Come to think of it…" Garrus started. "I'm getting flashbacks of Feros."

"You think these people planted a Thorian here?" Liara asked.

"No, but the colonists were acting so strangely because they had something in their heads. If these scientists are compromised, we could be walking into a trap."

"We'll be extra careful then. Try not to set them off. The colonists didn't go nuts until they knew we were on to them."

* * *

><p>After about an hour of trying not to step on any toes, I was approached by one of the scientists. At first I tried to ignore the tapping of shoes on the metal floor, but as they drew closer I looked up. The shape of an asari scientist strode towards me. I noted the careful placement of footing, the shifting of weight from side to side. She didn't move like a researcher, she moved like a commando.<p>

"Can I help you?" I asked guardedly. The asari didn't react, but she stopped just short.

"They tell me you are injured." She said. "I have been asked to render assistance."

"Are you a doctor?" I asked. The asari made a barely disguised face of disgust.

"I am a geneticist; that butchery you humans call doctoring is beneath me. I will, however, be able to tend to your wounds." She ran her Omni-tool over my shoulder. "You have a phasic shard buried in your collarbone. I will extract it with biotics." The asari seemed to take almost savage pleasure in informing me of my injuries. She braced a hand against my shoulder and sent a powerful wave of biotics through my armour. At once something began to move. The broken shard of the Geth's bullet tore a new channel on its way out. The asari was apparently doing nothing for the pain, because the bullet left a white hot trail through my flesh. I clenched my teeth and resisted the urge to ram my pistol into her stomach. With a final tug, she pulled the millimeter long shard from my skin. She let it hang there for a second, suspended in a mass effect field.

"Would you like to hold onto it?" she said with a smirk. "A souvenir, perhaps."

"You know, I think I will." I said mulishly. She dropped the shard into my open palm then turned and left. I watched her leave with a feeling of malice. Blood started to drip down my armour; the commando had neglected to seal the wound.

"Michael, I… What happened, you're bleeding again." Liara had wandered over from where she had been talking with a salarian.

"One of the scientists, dug the bullet out." I said. I motioned towards the retreating commando.

"Alestia Iallis, yes. She's cold. I don't think I like her." Liara knelt to apply more medigel.

"We have that in common. Thanks, by the way." I smiled as she retracted her hand. I caught it in my own.

"You two, we're moving again." Shepard called over. Liara sprang back as if hit by lightning.

"Well, yes. I… uh… must be going." Liara stammered. She moved off quickly. I pushed myself to my feet and followed. Shepard had called the team together by the elevators. I slipped the shard of metal into a pouch on my belt.

"We're going down into the tox labs, Dr. Cohen wants us to synthesize a cure for a bioweapon that got out."

"Commander, no offence, but shouldn't we avoid going down into the site of a bioweapon leak?" Garrus asked.

"Dr. Cohen assured me the virus has expired. As a precaution I want you all wearing your helmets. Cohen says the equipment we need to use is mostly automated." Shepard assured us. She smacked the controls and opened up the doors.

* * *

><p>*Synthesis Complete*<p>

The centrifuge spun down. Shepard reached in and pulled the flask from the machine. I had ducked into one of the bays to search for the upgrades and weapons. I found a few medical VI plugins before the doors to the lab opened again.

"You." Shepard was talking to someone.

"Me." The familiar voice spoke, now stripped of its contempt. It was a cold, calculating voice. I eyed the pistol on the table across the room. I had put it down to help Shepard with the chemical work. I cursed my lack of planning. Off course the commando would ambush us. I reached behind my back for the shotgun. It was gone too. Had I left that behind too?

"You're one of the scientists, what are you doing working with the Geth?" Shepard's voice had grown cold too.

"I'm not _working with the Geth_, and I'm not a simple scientist, as you so gullibly believed. I am an asari commando in the service of Matriarch Benezia. I'm afraid I can't let you continue to meddle with her plans."

"What is my mother planning?" Liara urged. "Why has she sided with Saren?"

"I don't have time for your questions. Destroy these distractions." There was a flurry of gunfire back and forth. I went to reach out for my pistol, but a scattering of shots hit the ground in front of me. I stumbled back. More shots rang out and the rattling of the Geth was silenced. "You fools! You have brought the wrath of a true commando!" My ears filled with the ringing of a strong stasis field going up. In front of me, Shepard and the team were wrapped in dancing light and frozen, stock still. Their unblinking eyes were locked on their enemy. The asari laughed cruelly. "So this is the great Commander Shepard, the human who is supposedly worthy of the rank of Spectre? I can't see what the council saw in you. Whatever it is, they won't be seeing it again." The commando tipped the Commander over with a savage kick.

Hidden behind the medical equipment, I scanned the room for something, anything that could get me us out of the situation we were in. As quietly as I could, I activated my Omni-tool. I ran through the list of combat programs, discarding one after another. I couldn't risk my attack backfiring or the commando would rip me apart.

"You have been found unworthy." The asari continued her tirade. "I will finish you myself." She drew a red shotgun, my shotgun, from behind her back and leveled it on Shepard.

"Hey Alestia!" I called, standing up from behind my cover. "Catch!" I raised my arm and activated my batarians designed magnetic catapult. Caught in its mass effect field was the Geth shard. The Omni-tool bucked. Alestia could only stand agape as the filament she had pulled from my body was driven through her forehead. With a snap, she fell backwards and the stasis fields collapsed.

"What happened?" Garrus asked groggily.

"We were caught in a stasis field." Liara answered. "Michael, you took out an asari commando?"

"She was distracted, and she thought she had disarmed me." I said.

"Good work, Deputy." Shepard said. "Perhaps act a little sooner next time."


	23. Chapter 23: Benezia

Interloper: Chapter 23

"Here's your cure, hope it helps." Shepard handed off the vial of liquid to the anxious scientist. "Now, we've held our end of the bargain."

"Yes, of course, access to the maintenance areas. I'm not sure why you would need it, but if anyone asks, you didn't get this from me." He tapped a few keys on his Omni-tool.

"Thank you, Doctor. They'll never know." Shepard backed out of the room and gathered us up.

"Commander, why _do_ we need access to the maintenance bay? What's going on here?" Garrus asked.

"Okay, here's the situation as far as I've been able to figure it out. These scientists have been cloning rachni." I tried to look surprised. The others were more genuinely shocked.

"That's impossible!" Tali exclaimed. "The rachni died out thousands of years ago."

"They found a sample, an egg. They've brought them back. That must be why Saren is so interested in the base. He wants to build an army of rachni."

"We can't let him, the rachni almost destroyed the galaxy last time." Liara said.

"I don't intend to. That's why we need maintenance access. According to one of the researchers we can get into the labs storing the rachni Queen."

"Keelah, they cloned a queen?" Tali shook her head. "Did they lose their minds?"

"Be that as it may, we're going to put an end to this here and now. From our schematics it looks like a straight shot to the holding labs here." The Commander brought up the map. "We move fast, hit the central room before the Geth know what's hit them. With the element of surprise, even an asari Matriarch should go down."

"Benezia is experienced, and powerful. And if she has one commando with her, there will be a whole squad, each one a specialist in small unit combat with centuries of experience." Liara said nervously.

"Which is why we're going to go in with a plan. The deputy's stunt back in the tox labs gave me an idea. The way I see it, once the commandoes engage, they became very focused. If we hit them while they are already fighting something else…"

"We ambush the ambushers, I like it." Garrus said. "So who's on the second team?"

"I want you and Liara with me on the first team, we don't know how many commandos are in there and I want a good biotic at my side. Deputy, you and Tali are going to be on the second team. You hit them with tech once they've gotten stuck in. We clear?"

"Clear."

* * *

><p>The maintenance tunnels were mainly empty, only a single rachni warrior standing in our way. We blasted past it, avoiding injury. At a fork in the path, Tali and I split off from the group and headed up a ramp to a higher level.<p>

"This plan is crazy." Tali said "Just the five of us against a whole squad of commandos."

"A whole squad minus one." I corrected, hefting my reacquired shotgun. "And we have the Commander's devious plan."

"Yes the two of us, you are going to stick to the default combat programs, right?"

"Of course, incinerate, overload. Trust me Tali, I'm in no hurry to have my hand put back together anytime soon. I think this is it." I wedged open a hatch on the side of the passage and peeked through. The hatch opened out onto a tall lab. In a large tube lay the rachni queen, her massive bulk writhing behind a hazy mist. I quickly scanned the inside of the room. On a central platform, stood the Matriarch in her black outfit. She seemed intent on the containment tube in front of her. Below, Shepard and her team walked in.

"Matriarch Benezia. We know what you're up to. We won't let you take this queen to make soldiers for Saren."

"You think you know so much. You do not know the privilege of being a mother. There is power in creation. To shape a life. Turn it towards happiness or despair. Her children were to be ours, raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies. I won't be moved by sympathy, no matter who you bring into this confrontation." The matriarch rounded on Shepard, but gave a brief, sidelong glance to Liara.

"I'm not looking for your sympathy, and neither is Liara. She's here for the same reason I am, to put a stop to this madness." Shepard stood her ground.

"Madness? What have you been telling her, Liara?"

"What could I say, mother? That you're insane? You've turned your back on the galaxy, and you expect me to what, defend your actions? What drove you to this, mother?"

"I have not been driven to anything. I merely see the inevitability of the situation." Benezia advanced. "Tell me, Shepard, have you faced an asari commando unit before? Few Humans have."

"I beat your assassin." Shepard said coldly. "Though I can't believe you would kill your own daughter."

"I am starting to see I should have been stricter with her." Benezia said. She waved her hand across the group, trapping them in a stasis field. From the various side passages, asari flooded into the room. Shepard and the team broke from stasis and moved to take cover behind stacked crates. The commandoes attacked relentlessly, throwing blasts of biotic energy and firing rifles.

"I think now would be a good time to intervene." Tali whispered. I keyed up my first attack, a shield overload, and nodded. As one, we ducked out of the hatch and targeted two asari. The burst of static leapt across the space and danced across the commando's barrier. The asari was taken by surprise and fell to a hail of fire from the first team. The remaining asari turned and fired at the new threat. Tali and I leapt back as shots sparked off our shields. I keyed a second attack, an incinerate. I fired it towards one of the far commandos. Shepard and Garrus focused on another commando, while Liara lifted another. My incendiary grenade hit the lift opponent, sending her screaming into the depths of the chamber. Another wave stormed through the door. I looked over at the first team. They stood stock still, frozen in stasis. I fired at Benezia, distracting her long enough for the team to break free. I stayed out too long, because a second later I felt the telltale tingle of biotics run down my spine.

"Michael!" Tali grabbed at my heels as I was yanked from my perch. She missed and I went cartwheeling out over empty space. Fire crisscrossed as the asari attempted to shoot me out of the air. Shots sparked across my weakened shield. I suddenly felt weighted again and plummeted downwards. Seconds before I hit the deck, I once again become weightless. I was gently set down on the deck before being released again. The stomping of Geth feet alerted me to another attacker. I kicked out at the platforms ankle, giving me enough time to shoot it at close range. A third wave had already come through the doors. Our ambush was quickly falling apart. Tali threw incendiaries down at anything that moved. Shepard's team was being squeezed back into a corner. From where I stood I could only see one Geth platform. I hit the unit with an overload then quickly followed up with a shotgun blast. I moved towards Shepard's team, weaving my way through the fallen.

"Friendly on your left!" I called as I dove into place behind the boxes. A fourth wave had poured in.

"What are you doing down here?" Shepard asked. She fired over the boxes.

"Just practicing my dive, think I scored at least an 8.5." I lobbed a grenade over the box. The blast knocked out a few Geth.

"I thought we were saving those." Garrus said.

"We are." Shepard replied.

"I think that took out the last of them though." I said, peeking out to confirm. The coast was clear. Benezia lay crumpled against a control panel. Shepard stood and moved up.

"This isn't over. Saren is unstoppable." Benezia rose, stumbled slightly, and continued talking. "My mind is full of light. Everything is clear."

"If Saren is so unstoppable, why can't he control these rachni? We've seen them out in the base, they're little more that frightened animals."

"I will not betray him, I will not…" Benezia seemed to flounder. "You must listen to me. Saren whispers in my mind. I can fight his compulsions, briefly, but the indoctrination is strong."

"He's controlling you?" Shepard asked.

"It is more subtle than mere control. People do not remain themselves around Saren. They begin to idolize him, even worship him. They are willing to do anything for him. The key is his flagship, Sovereign. A dreadnaught of incredible size and power."

"We saw this ship on Eden Prime." Shepard said. "Where did it come from? Where did Saren gain this power to control minds?"

"It is not Saren's power, but Sovereign's. The longer you stay aboard the ship, the more you bend to its will."

"How can a ship have a will?" Shepard asked.

"Please, I do not know how much longer I can resist. Saren sent me to find the location of the Mu Relay."

"The Mu Relay was lost, thousands of years ago. How did you plan on locating it?" Liara interrupted.

"The queen knows, she holds the ancestral memory of her kind. Please, take this OSD; it contains the location of the Mu Relay. Know this Shepard, I did not set out to be Saren's pawn. I wanted to… to… even now he presses against my awareness!" Benezia began to shake. "I wanted to move him from this path."

"You still can, mother. You need only fight his control!" Liara stepped forward and held her mother by the arms.

"It is too late for me, my daughter. I was always proud of you… Liara…. Now Die!" she lunged, stripping Liara's pistol from her belt.

"Mother, no!" Liara screamed. The Matriarch smiled cruelly. Liara yelled with rage and thrust both hands outwards. The rush of biotics smashed Benezia against the containment tubes glass. "I'm… sorry." She fell to her knees.

* * *

><p>Liara sat on the ground, her knees hugged to her chest. I sat beside her, arm wrapped around her shoulders. She shook gently with soft sobs. Shepard had spoken with the rachni queen, freeing the creature after extracting a promise to leave the known systems and retreat beyond the Rachni Relay. Garrus and Tali had been incredulous, but had acquiesced to the Commander's judgment.<p>

"I feel… unwell." Liara murmured next to me.

"You've just had to fight and kill your own mother. I'd be worried if you felt as right as rain." I said, trying to sound comforting. Truthfully, I was way out of my depth.

"I understand it had to be done, but I can't shake the feeling that I'm some kind of monster now." She wiped the streak of a tear away from her face.

"Hey, you're not a monster, Liara. If you want to blame anyone, blame Saren. He took everything your mother was and twisted it to his own use. You did what you had to to stop him from doing it to more people, more families."

"You're… too kind, Michael." Liara worked her way further under my arm. "I'm not sure if I totally believe you, but it means a lot to me."

"Liara, I'm sorry it had to be this way, but we need to move." Shepard said as she walked up to us. "There are still more wild rachni on the loose. We have to get to the hot labs, that's were they originated. There must be a way to destroy them before they reach the surface."

Liara stood with my help. "Then we must leave immediately."

* * *

><p>We pounded through the passageways and tunnels. At our heels, more rachni snapped. Garrus dropped another of our precious grenades. The blast slowed the Rachni, but did not stop them.<p>

"In here!" called Liara. We piled into an elevator. "This will take us to the hot labs." The elevator descended quickly. I checked the power levels on my shields. Nominal. The doors slid opened onto a small room.

"Over here, help me." A weak voice called out. In the middle of the room, an older man lay in a pool of blood. His pudgy features were slick with sweat. His clothes were ruined. As we moved into the room, I realized his right leg was missing at the knee, the stump bound by a strip of cloth.

"Are you one of the scientists?" Shepard lowered her weapon.

"Yes, Yaroslev Tartakovsky. I worked in the labs, this is all our fault. We found an egg, brought it to life. Binary Helix wanted to create weapon, train rachni to be obedient." The scientist spoke with a thick Russian accent.

"That didn't turn out so well." Shepard said.

"You are all too right, I am afraid. They were wild without contact with the queen. They overran us in minutes."

"Then I guess you're lucky to be alive."

"Ha ha." The scientist chuckled wetly, "Lucky she says, perhaps not in this condition, eh? Mother was right; going into genetics was a mistake. Should have stayed with physics." He gave a wracking cough. "Perhaps I am lucky enough to be fixing my mistakes. Here, take my activation codes. They will activate the neutron purge of the hot labs. It is only way to destroy rachni." He held out his hand. Behind him something stirred. A rachni. I reacted blindly, throwing out my Omni-tool. I hit the first program in the list in the hope that it would at least slow down the shrimplike alien. There was a blinding flash and an almighty bang. My visor polarized, but not enough to avoid the worst effects of the blast. I stumbled blindly. Through the ringing in my ears, I heard the dull thumps of shots fired somewhere behind me. Disorientated, I tripped over my feet and fell to the ground. I blinked rapidly, trying to clear my vision. As my hearing began to clear, I heard someone yelling. I rolled over and squinted past the afterimage of the flash. Tali was on her feet with her gun trained on something. I looked to see what it was. The rachni was dead. The scientist lay on his back. He was still breathing. I heaved myself up, groaning. Tali gave me a hand up. By now my hearing had mostly returned.

"Everyone still have all their parts?" Shepard was talking. "Liara, get Yaroslev some medigel." The asari rushed to his side. "I've got to say, Deputy, not one of your brightest ideas."

"Sorry, Commander, I panicked." I said contritely.

"You got lucky. Who bagged the target?"

"That would be me, Commander," said Tali, "my suit can double-purpose for EVA, its flash visor has much better reaction time than your combat suits."

"Good work. Liara, toss me those codes." She deftly caught the optical disk. "I want everyone ready to move. I'm activating the neutron purge." Shepard entered the control room while Tali and Garrus took up position flanking the door. Liara and I picked up the groaning Yaroslev. "I'm setting the detonator for ten minutes, that should be enough to evac the civilians and get out of the base."

"Uh, Commander, we've got movement." Garrus had his motion tracker out again.

"How many?"

"Lots," Garrus frowned. "They're close. Just the other side of the bulkhead. Wait, that can't be right. This says they're in the room." He looked up. Silence preceded an explosion of noise. Rachni burst through the floor tiles. Their many tentacles waved menacingly through the air. Shepard jammed down hard on the detonator and whirled on us.

"Ready the rest of our grenades, now!" Three grenades whizzed out and exploded amongst the insects. "Go go go!" we surged forward, firing as we went. Rachni snapped at our heels and spewed their sticky acid. The air in the room became a jungle of fronds of the burning stuff. We dodged and dived to avoid the web of stinging fibers, but some managed to catch our shields. Liara and I were the first into the elevator, followed by Shepard. We gave covering fire for Tali and Garrus as they leapt the remaining distance.

"Move, move, move, move, move!" Tali jabbed at the 'up' button repeatedly. The doors closed on a rachni claw. The elevator zoomed to the top.

"Liara and Liddle, secure the tram!" Shepard burst out of the elevator and ran towards the barracks. We fell back shooting. I hopped the lip of the tram with my good arm, landing awkwardly inside. Yaroslev landed on top of me and rolled off as Liara hurdled the wall more gracefully. More rachni emerged from the open shaft. We shot down the first wave, linking fire to blast one after another.

"We need to leave!" Yaroslev cried.

"We're not leaving without the Commander!" Liara yelled back. She threw a rachni warrior through a sheet of plate glass. I dropped my shotgun and drew my pistol, firing one handed. Rachni had begun to crawl up the side of the tram. I shoved the nearest one bodily off the wall. It caught me with one of its tentacles, gouging a deep gash across my shoulder plate. A bullet to its head knocked it away.

"Incoming!" Shepard and crew came storming across the platform, scientists in tow. A few of the scientists carried weapons, firing inexpertly. One by one they filed onto the tram. "Get this thing moving!"

"On it, Commander!" Tali dashed to the controls. The tram lurched into motion. The crunching grinding noise from our arrival returned, along with a faint hissing.

"What's that…" I stepped forward and put my foot through the floor. The metal grate had been eaten away by rachni acid. More deck plate gave way as I stumbled forward. Garrus reached out and grabbed me by the back of the neck. I hung there, staring into the darkness below the tram.

"I got ya." Garrus pulled me back from the edge. "Wouldn't want you to fall."

"Yeah," I said weakly, "It's a long way down."

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

Returning from school has been a little more disruptive to my writing than I would have hoped. Unfortunately this will probably be the last Saturday Update for a while while I rebuild the buffer of chapters. Don't worry though, few chapters will continue to come out every Monday and Thursday as usual. Keep on reading and reviewing.

-Liddle Out


	24. Chapter 24: Upgrades

Interloper: Chapter 24

"Michael, wake up. You slept through lunch; I saved you something to eat." I looked up blearily. Blurred features swam before my eyes.

"Liara?"

"You wish, out of bed, I need your help with something." I blinked away the haze of sleep. The short brown hair and narrow blue eyes of Corporal Steiner came into focus. She held half of a nutrient bar in her fist. "I got hungry on the way, alright, now move it." I shifted enough to put my feet on the floor. I hissed as cold metal touched my bare feet. Someone had taken off my boots. I rooted around for the things until Steiner pushed them towards me. "I swear, you're useless."

I stood carefully, trying not to rock my arm in its sling. I followed behind the marine yawning. "If I'm so useless how is it I'm supposed to help you with whatever it is you're doing? What do you need help with anyway?"

"You'll see." The Corporal led me towards the cargo lifts. In one of the monitors , I caught a glimpse of something familiar.

"Hey corp, were are we?"

"Parked over Luna, the Commander's down there taking care of some business. Took Chief Williams and Lieutenant Alenko with her."

"She didn't take more marines?" I asked, puzzled that the Commander wouldn't take a larger team down to deal with what had to be the rogue VI.

"None of us had clearance." Steiner shrugged. "You ask me, some officer's gone postal. Brass doesn't like that kind of thing going public."

We had arrived at the door to the barracks. Steiner motioned for me to go in ahead of her. I walked through the threshold to find the Normandy's entire marine company watching me, grinning ear to ear. The sight shook me a little, it was like running into a pack of predatory animals. Behind me, Steiner closed the door.

"Looky what I found, marines. It's the birthday boy."

_Birthday boy? It couldn't be. What date is it? It's so hard to keep track out in space?_

"January 5th, Earth Normal. Didn't think you could hide it from us did you?" One of the marines jeered. If that was the date, and there was no reason for them to be lying to me, I was now 24. My line of thought derailed as the first palm descended on my forehead.

"Happy birthday!" one after the other, the marines swarmed me, swatting at my head and wishing me a happy birthday. After each one had assaulted me, they withdrew. Corporal Steiner took to the fore. She unrolled a large roll of thick paper.

"Marines, secure the accused." String hands grip my elbows. They dragged me to a chair in the middle of the room. I struggled against them, but the men held me fast.

"What the hell is going on here?" I yelped. The marines just chuckled and belted me down to the seat. Steiner began talking again, speaking in a loud and slightly pompous voice.

"My fellow marines, before you sits Michael Liddle. He has been brought here on his 24th birthday to answer for the charges that have been levied upon him!" A few more cries of 'birthday boy' and several more colourful exclamations followed the proclamation. "The accused is charged with saving the life of our fellow marine, Richard Jenkins, ramming a Thresher Maw with a Mako, engaging in heated combat with slavers, launching himself into a vacuum to defend the ship, rescue of an evac pilot, and the second extinction of the rachni. For these and other charges, it is the decision of the Normandy marine compliment that Michael Liddle be sentenced to life as an honorary marine!" the room erupted with cheers. I flinched for a second as more hands rose above my head, but they fell on my shoulders, clapping me on the back instead of cuffing my head.

"What? What's going on?" I was bewildered by the rush of noise and sound, still half asleep.

"You're one of us now!" one of the marines belted. In the back of the room, someone was pulling bottles from a crawlspace. One was shoved into my hand and I drank instinctively. The drink was a bitter one, but the punch was enough to shake me awake. The rest of the cabin was drinking now. The whole scene was actually pretty festive. Someone pulled me out of the scrum of partying marines. Jenkins looked a little sheepish as he found us a set of chairs. I sat heavily.

"What just happened?" I asked.

"I wanted to warn you." Jenkins said at once. "It's kind of a tradition among us marines; we give each other shit on our birthdays. It's all in good fun though." He wasn't very convincing.

"How did you even know?" I asked, "I mean, even I lost track of time out here."

"Liara told us," He said. "She didn't know about the whole trial thing though." He added quickly, "Probably thought we were going to get you a present."

"I suppose _she_ gets a pass then." I tried to say gruffly, but my heart wasn't in it. The cuffs hadn't hurt that bad, and it was nice to be considered part of the group, even if that group was a bunch of rowdy soldiers. Around the room, they chatted loudly. "I don't blame you, Rick." I said at last. The man seemed to relax and we both took a swig of our beers. A third marine walked up to us with a drink in her hand.

"Mind if I join you?" She asked. It was the biotic marine from among the new arrivals.

"Sure." Jenkins said. He seemed to know her. "Mike, this is…"

"2nd Lieutenant Isik. You can call me Rahna though." The woman winked at me. The name was familiar. "Welcome to the corp."

"Thanks." I replied. "So, how do you like the Normandy?"

"It's a nice enough post. It's an honor to serve under Commander Shepard, of course. Some of the stuff you've been doing has trickled down to us on Arcturus, even through the brass's red tape. And it's nice to see Kaidan again." That was when it clicked.

"You knew the Lieutenant from BAat, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, where'd you here that? Wait, is the LT still talking about that?"

"He may have mentioned it." I said evasively.

"Yeah, we were both at Jump Zero together. Kaidan might be happy to chat about it, but I don't really like talking about it." Rahna said. "So, you ran over a thresher?"

"I helped." Jenkins said.

* * *

><p>An hour passed before I was able to slip away from the party. As time passed, the marines became rowdier. Occasionally they would remember why they started partying to begin with and I would have to fend off a few more blows. The doors closed behind me, sealing off the noise. After the crowd and sound of my 'birthday party,' it was nice to walk alone through the ship. I took the cargo elevator down to the hold to avoid any wandering marines. The hold was empty, devoid even of the usually omnipresent Wrex. I moved over to the new Mako. The hull still held its dazzlingly white coat of paint. I ran my hand over the smooth metal. It was cold in the unheated cargo bay. I walked a full circle of the shiny warhorse. Every piece was untouched, seated neatly in its place. Inside, the troop bay still had a 'new car smell.' I walked over to the small tool bench that held the specialized equipment the Omni-tool couldn't stand in for. I withdrew the pot of black paint and a thin paintbrush. I carefully applied the thresher silhouette and the latest tally marks for every Geth destroyed. After the kill markers were done, I crawled inside the tank and ran my yellowjacket program. Hackett's aide had sent another update on the search for Admiral Kohoku. Nothing further had been heard of the so-called 'Phantom Flotilla.' I made a mental note to find a way to send some kind of gift to the aide once I had a little money. I flipped through my flagged extranet pages looking for other news. A few articles caught my attention, foremost of which heralded the rescue of the crew of the Hugo Gernsback and the subsequent trial of acting Captain, Ronald Taylor. From the look of the article, the mental degradation of the crew had been caught before it became permanent, and a few of the other officers had also survived the ordeal. They claimed that Taylor had held them against their will, which would have made me laugh had the article not had pictures of the crew included.<p>

"Still trying to pull the galaxy's strings?" a mechanically filtered voice rang from the entrance hatch. Tali pulled herself into the Mako. "I thought I'd find you here."

"You're not going to hit me are you?" I asked, bracing myself.

"Why would I… Never mind. You didn't answer my question."

"I'm just reading the news." I said truthfully.

"The Gernsback was found irreparably damaged…. Crew thought missing…. Poisoned food…" Tali read along. "You certainly have an odd taste in reading… wait; you had a hand in this, didn't you?"

"I might have." I said, closing the browser.

"One of these days, you're going to have to tell us where you get your information." Tali said. Her earlier mistrust seemed to have abated somewhat. "But that's not why I'm here. Liara told me that you were born today?"

"That's right, it's my birthday. It kind of snuck up on me this year, with everything that's happened."

"I know, it's been pretty crazy since you picked me up on the Citadel. I understand you humans exchange gifts on your birthdays. On the Migrant Fleet, we have a similar tradition for the day a young quarian takes a ship-name."

"Tali, you didn't have to get me anything." I said quickly.

"Who's saying I did?" the quarian said cheekily. "Anyway, it's not so much a giving, but a sharing. We have to get by with so little on the Fleet, we don't give away flashy decorations, it's always something useful. I noticed back on Noveria, you had to ready each program individually before you used it. I though you could make use of a macro I designed for quick deployment of combat programs. Here, give me your arm." Tali took my arm and began rearranging panels on my Omni-tool with deft fingers.

"Ach, you still have all this junk on here." She muttered.

"I might still need them for something." I complained. With my lackluster aim and lack of body mods, the immense toolkit I had assembled was really all that kept me on par with the rest of the team.

"There is such a thing as over prepared you know. There. Hold out your arm s if you were throwing a punch, but keep the palm facing away from you."

When I did as directed, the Omni-tool lit up on its own. It overlaid a thin orange disk of light across my fingers.

"It's very pretty, what does it do?" I asked.

Once you load it up, it'll let you fire off a combat program without having to pick it from a menu first. Just make that punching motion and push a finger forward and it'll use whatever you have mapped… see, here's the loading interface." A rough outline of a hand had appeared. Each fingertip was encircled by an empty circle.

"Just drag from this menu… Yep you got it." I filled all five slots and powered down the program. "Remember to keep that thing turned off when we're not fighting." Tali reminded me.

"Thanks Tali, this is really brilliant." I said. "You came up with this all by yourself?"

"I have a lot of free time now that bosh'tet Dubyansky isn't even talking to me." Tali said darkly. "I heard you defended me though, thank you for that." Though I couldn't see beyond her mask, I got the impression that the girl was smiling at me.

"It's what friends do." I said.

"We're friends now? I thought we were just conspirators." Tali said in mock hushed tones. "Well, 'friend,' I'm starving, would you like to grab a bite in the mess?"

"Can't," I said glancing out of the hatch, "The marines might find me."

"Suit yourself." The quarian shuffled out of the tank and gave me a parting wave.


	25. Chapter 25: Briefing

Interloper: Chapter 25

"You still hiding in here?" a familiar voice came from behind me.

"Com…commander!" I jerked around. I had been in the middle of a simulated run of the battle of Shanxi. The sudden opening of the hatch canceled the program.

"At ease, Liddle. I just came to check up on you. Tali tells me you've been here all day." The Commander stood propped up against the lip of the tank's hatch. "Besides, its 0100 hours Earth time, you should be safe around the barracks again."

"Oh thank God." I slid out of the tank, relieved. "I guess this means you've dealt with whatever unpleasantness managed to crop up on Luna?"

"That's classified, Deputy." The Commander replied, slipping into business mode. "All you need to know is 'Mission Accomplished,' and that we've received new marching orders."

"Virmire?"

"Soon, we're making one stop along the way; we had a listening post go down in the Acheron sector. Hackett thinks it might have something to do with our wayward admiral."

"Kohoku? What's he got to do with silent listening posts?"

"A turian patrol spotted an unmarked cruiser moving through the Acheron Relay shortly before our garrison went quiet. An Alliance pattern cruiser."

"We're not going in alone?" I asked. "One recon frigate against an entire flotilla doesn't sound survivable."

"We'll just be dropping in a small ground team from stealth mode. The Normandy will stay on station to extract, but otherwise it'll stay back."

"Isn't this the kind of thing you want to save for the briefing?"

"I think you mean, 'isn't that something _I_ should be saving for the briefing.' You're leading the ground team. I want a roster ready before we hit the next transition, remember, you'll all need to fit in the Mako."

"Will Alenko or the Chief be coming along to observe?" I asked.

"I'm afraid I need the command staff for an investigation on the incident on Luna. Look, it's just a little sweep. I'm confident you can handle this."

"I'm getting some Déjà vu, Commander."

"But unlike Armstrong, you don't have to worry about a pack of Marines blundering through your recon op. Remember, before the next transition." She walked into her office and left me standing alone in the mess hall.

* * *

><p>Elbow deep in datapads of various shapes and sizes, I barely noticed the approach of the ship's Lieutenant.<p>

"Hard at work?" Kaidan's voice shook me from the stupor I had fallen into. "You know, I've led more than a few recon missions, need any advice?"

"I'd love some." I said gratefully. "Let me clear you some space." I stacked the blueprints for the various listening post buildings and shifted them over. Kaidan took a seat and looked at the potential roster I'd drawn up.

"Let's see, you've got… Dr. T'Soni, Lt. Isik, Wrex? This is most of our biotic complement. You expecting to fight an army down there?"

"I figured the biotics would be used to operating light." I gave the excuse I had worked out for just that question. It made more sense than, 'I'm expecting to wander into a rachni nest.'

"Alright, that's true, I guess. But Wrex? He's not exactly stealthy." The Lieutenant furrowed his brow, probably imagining Wrex attempting to sneak around.

"I wanted someone who could do some damage if we run into trouble." I said. I brought up the crew dossiers again. "Who would you recommend?"

"Well, I think if you're set on this team, at least add a pointman on. Forrest's as good a sniper as you're going to find on the Normandy. It's going to be a tight fit on the Mako, but I really think you should consider taking him along."

"Alright." I dragged the marine onto the short list. "I still don't know how I'm going to brief all these guys. Except for Liara, all of them have a lot more experience than I do."

"You want my two cents; listen to what they have to say. Forrest's a senior NCO with a couple of ops under his belt. He knows his stuff back to front."

"Ok, I think I've got this." I let out a long breath. "At least the planet's atmosphere will be working with us. All that thick smog's going to provide some concealment."

"A double edged sword, of course. You'll have to get right up close to get any useable data."

"And if we run up along this ridge, we'll have some hard cover all the way up until we hit the post."

"You'll need to drop pretty far back then, maybe over here."

"Nah, there's nothing but magma vents along this side, maybe here…" Kaidan and I fired ideas back and forth until a call came across the intercom that we'd be transitioning in ten minutes. As I walked over to the Commander's office to deliver the report, I felt much more confident that I would at least get everyone out alive. I knocked on the door.

"Come in." the Commander sat with her head down on her desk. She looked up and locked onto me with tired blue eyes. "You have the roster?"

"Right here." I handed the pad over.

"That's a lot of biotics." Shepard's eyes flicked across the screen. "But I think we can spare them. You'll brief them before we hit Acheron."

"Commander, I was wondering."

"Yes?"

"I don't hold any kind of rank over anyone…"

"And you want to know why they'd listen to you. Listen, Liddle, you're a Spectre's deputy and an honorary marine, they'll listen. Wrex I'm not too sure about, but he'll do what he thinks best, and with nearly a millennium of experience I think we can assume he knows his stuff. Are you ready to give a briefing?"

"I think so… yes. I worked out a plan with Lieutenant Alenko. I studied up on the local area too."

"Good, I'll have Pressley page the people on this list. Set up in the conference room and be ready to go once you finish the briefing." The office shook with the rumble of a transition. "Hop to it, Deputy."

* * *

><p>I paced the round conference room restlessly in my newly purchased armour. While it retained the darkened green colour, it was substantially heavier than the set I had worn down to Noveria. The Plates were thicker and the shield generator larger. Most importantly to me, it came with a combat harness that allowed me to store additional omnigel reserves to power my Omni-tool, as well as an array of pouches on the front which carried a number of different ammo blocks. I flexed my shoulders under the new weight. When I had arrived on the Normandy, the whole getup would have had me wheezing just walking from my locker to the briefing room; now it was just outside my comfort zone. The change felt good. I ran quickly through the mission in my head again for good measure. Behind me, the door to the conference room swished open quietly. I turned.<p>

"You're early." I smiled as Liara entered the room. She was wearing a much lighter suit of armour patterned in pale blue and silver. Her own pistol was slung high on her hip. She smiled back nervously and fiddled with something.

"Michael, I wanted to… I know humans mark the passing of their years with the giving of gifts. I couldn't find you yesterday, so, here." She extended her arm out and dropped something into my open hand. The object was surprisingly heavy for its small size; it barely filled my palm. I raised it up for a closer look. It appeared to be made from twisted wire, four strands of thicker wire wrapped around each other in a complex pattern. The surface was a shiny golden colour, though parts of it were pitted with spots of corrosion. At one time it may have hung on a metal chain, but now it was tied to a simple black string.

"Liara, this is beautiful, where did you get this?" I held the medallion up to the light, were it glinted softly.

"I found it on the first Prothean dig I participated in, back when I was a lowly student. I've been wearing it for luck ever since. I figured you need it more than me if you're going to be leading us into battle." She laughed shyly. "And besides, in the time of the Protheans, these were often given to symbolize the friendship of two warriors, it only seems appropriate…" Her voice drifted off. I rolled the complex pattern of wires beneath my thumb. Curiosity got the better of me, and I slowly dialed back the opacity of the neural shroud embedded in my skull. A rush of images filled my head, each one alien, yet somehow comprehensible. I saw the unmistakable crests of two Protheans, one handing the other I similar band of twisted metal. The image held the traces of muted emotion, thin but strong enough to give me a good picture of what the band signified. I withdrew from the images and brought up the shroud again. They quieted, leaving a dull ache.

"Liara, this gift, it means something stronger than friendship doesn't it?" Liara's face flushed a darker blue.

"I… I didn't mean to imply… I'm sorry; I'm not very good at this." She turned as if to flee. I caught her lightly by the shoulder and turned her back to face me.

"This is new ground for me too, Liara." I took her hand and turned it palm facing upwards. I placed my hand in hers, the pendant held between us, and clasped it tightly. "I accept your gift." Liara's eyes grew wider and she smiled.

"Is this a briefing, or a wedding ceremony?" A gruff voice came from the open door. The walking mountain that was Urdnot Wrex lumbered in. "Well?" Liara and I snapped apart, her looking like she wanted to sink into the floor, me quickly tucking the pendant into a secure pouch in my armour.

"Wrex, nice of you to join us." I tried to sound confident and commanding. The krogan didn't look impressed, choosing instead to wander over to the back of the room, chuckling to himself. Behind him, the two marines had now arrived, taking seats to the side of the room. Liara joined them. She still looked a little embarrassed.

"So you're the one leading this mission." Rahna said from her seat. "What's the situation?"

I cleared my throat. "Here's what's going on. Listening Post Alpha, along with its garrison of 90 Alliance Marines, has stopped transmitting. The Normandy has been ordered to investigate. This team will drop in behind this ridge using the Mako. Once we're down, we'll follow it all the way up to the Post." I motioned towards the satellite imagery that had been provided in the information Shepard had given me. "Our primary objective is to find out why the Alpha has stopped transmitting and if possible provide necessary assistance. We run into anything we can't handle, we call for pickup and the Normandy dusts it from orbit."

"Deputy, what are we expecting down there?" Forrest asked.

"The planet itself is a pile of slag. We'll need to be on the lookout for lava falls. As to possible resistance, this close to the Terminus systems, it could be anything. A platoon of Marines doesn't just forget to call."

"So that's it? We just drive in, look around, and take off?" Wrex grumbled. "Couldn't the Alliance have sent another ship in to do this?"

"We have our orders." I said simply. I didn't have anything better to give him. "You don't like it; take it up with the Commander." Wrex bristled, but didn't say anything further. "Any more questions? No? Alright then, grab your weapons and get to the Cargo Bay, we drop soon."

* * *

><p>Liegelord- The events on Noveria are indeed classified. While the Council and the Alliance got their usual report, the crew of the Normandy is out of the loop.<p> 


	26. Chapter 26: Pandora

Interloper: Chapter 26

The ramp to the cargo bay slowly descended, letting a narrow shaft of red tinted sunlight weakly shine in. The Mako's engine roared as I threw the tank into gear. I drove forward, running the Mako off the ramp and into the empty air. The jump jets provided a cushion to slow our descent. Below, the thick black gravel cascaded away from our landing spot in waves as we approached. The tires crunched down, rocking the suspension and bit deep into the ground. The Mako rocketed forward and skidded a little as I fought to maintain control. We slipped sideways down a scree before managing to stabilize halfway down.

"I give you a 10 for the leap, but a 5 for the landing," Joker quipped over the radio, "The Normandy's sensors have picked up some strange reading ahead of you at bearing 43.57. Just letting you know, also, I suggest you maintain radio silence from now on."

"I'll keep that in mind, Normandy. Ground Team out." I flicked of the transmitter and started the trek towards the listening post. Looking at the map, I mentally plotted the path that would bring us on close approach to Joker's mysterious reading. I kept us behind the ridge, carefully probing through the smoggy haze of volcanic ash. I turned up the outside audio channel to keep an ear out for rachni song, but all that could be heard was the steady sharp crunch of tire on gravel. After mere minutes, a massive shape loomed out of the ash cloud.

"What is that?" Liara asked.

"Looks like a wrecked ship." Wrex grunted. As we drew closer, he was confirmed to be right. The jagged shape of the ship, probably a freighter by its size, grew clearer unto we pulled alongside, close enough to read what was left of the stenciled paint on the hull.

"MSV Pandora?" I read off the peeling nameplate. "This must be our anomalous reading." I threw the Mako into neutral and engaged the console locks. "We're going to investigate this wreck before continuing on to the post. I want everyone to do a wide sweep of the area before stacking up on that breach there." I shone an exterior spot light on the great rift in the ship's side where the boxy hull had cracked on impact. "Forrest, lead the sweep." I added on second thought.

"Yes Sir." The hard faced marine rapped on the outer door. The hatch rose smartly. "Alright, people, fan out on exit and move forward in pairs. Isik and T'Soni, you're Team 2, Wrex, you will be Team 3. Deputy, you and I will be Team 1. Go, go, go. Team 2, take the lead." Rahna and Liara gracefully dismounted and ran forward, taking a knee as Wrex pounded ahead of them. "Our move, Deputy." Forrest hopped out and covered the breach with his rifle. I joined him out on the burnt plain as we ran forward. Forrest dropped without a word and raised a hand. The two biotics moved past us quietly, almost reaching the stricken ship. Wrex was the first to reach the hole. He leaned in as the rest of us fell in behind him.

"Looks clear." He said. The group looked to me.

"Move in, carefully." I said, "Keep your eyes peeled for survivors or intel. I want to know where this ship came from, what it's doing here, and if it had anything to do with the Listening Post going silent." The team nodded ad slipped one by one into the crevice. The inside hallway was dark, only the disuse light of the spot light to brighten the ashen metal. From the thick pattern of ash on the floor, the ship had gone down days ago. "Lights on." I said. Bright spots of light fell on the grating before us. They illuminated a skewed and broken corridor, canted down ahead of us where the nose of the Pandora had buried itself in the ground. "Move forward, watch your footing." The words echoed tinnily down the broken hallway. I silently cursed myself and cut my suits external speakers. If anything was hiding down the slanted path, it knew we were coming. I picked my way slowly down the grating into the darkness. I passed my light over doorways and turnoffs, but the vast majority of them were either blocked off by buckled hull plating or jammed closed. Further into the belly of the wreck, the air cleared and we got a better view of the space around us. I quickly wished we hadn't, the walls held a red stain too dark to be simple rust.

"Whatever happened here was messy." Wrex said evilly, "This kind of splatter doesn't come from any gunshot." His words seemed to set the party on edge. Deeper into the ship, we found our first open door.

"Stack up, Lieutenant Isik and Chief Forrest, clear the room on my signal." Boots clomped as the team maneuvered past each other in the dim and cramped hall. I made the brief chopping motion I had seen the Commander make in this situation and the two marines surged into the room. I followed shortly after the given "Clear" signal. The room looked like it held crew berths. The bunks shared the reddish hue of the walls, and wafting in the slight breeze of our passing, the ragged scraps of what appeared to be a uniform hung from where they were caught on a jagged rip in the ceiling.

"Goddess, these poor crewmen." Liara exclaimed.

"Deputy, look at the uniforms, you see the logo there?" Forrest fished the rags from the hole with the barrel of his gun. Embellished on what used to be a lapel, was an image of twin strands wrapped around the letters "BH." The insignia didn't leave much room for interpretation.

"Binary Helix." I said.

"You don't think…" the Lieutenant started to ask before being cut off by Wrex.

"It looks like a krogan _will_ get a second shot at the rachni after all." He readied his shotgun dramatically. According to the rumor mill, the battlemaster hadn't been too happy to be left out of the action on Noveria.

"We need to be sure before we go charging into battle. If this was the rachni, that listening post is in even more trouble than we thought. We need to get to the bridge and find out where this ship's been, maybe figure out how many rachni were aboard, and…" I said hesitantly, "If there's a queen involved."

* * *

><p>The doors to the bridge were buckled inwards, as if they had been battered open. I peered into the cramped cockpit. It looked clear.<p>

"Chief, you and Wrex cover the hallway. I'm going to try and find the freighter's flight recorder." The two nodded and dropped into position. I slipped sidelong into the space and swung my light around. The walls had the same unpleasant stains as the hallways, as did the smashed consoles. I walked over to the sputtering light of the pilot's controls.

"Something really didn't want this ship flying again." Liara noted as she slipped in behind me. "I think this class of freighter keeps the flight recorder under the center console." I slipped her a questioning look. "I've traveled in my share of bulk freighters, grants don't always cover transportation." I nodded and slipped under the twisted controls. I left my shotgun at my side and popped off the flashlight, clenching it between my teeth. The underside of the console was smooth and flat. I fired up my Omni-tool and ran it over the metal. A panel popped open and slid to the side. The inner compartment was dark and full of cabling. "The flat, oblong one in the back." Liara noted helpfully. I dragged out the component to find it intact.

"Time to find out what's going on around here." I hauled myself out from under the console. "Do you think you can fix this console up enough to display video?"

"I've got you covered, Deputy." Rahna had entered the cabin now too. "Took a turn on Maintenance duty back on Arcturus." The marine snatched the flight recorder from my hands and ran a hand over the flickering orange light of the console. "I think I can get something out of this. Give me a few minutes."

"Try to hurry, this place is giving me the creeps." I left her to her work and went to check on the guards. "Anything of note?"

"Forrest here thinks he saw something." Wrex rumbled, jerking his head in the general direction of one of the half open doors further down the hall.

"I saw something, Deputy." Forrest said, bristling. "There's something on this ship."

"Deputy, I've got it working." Rahna called.

"Keep your eyes peeled, okay." I said quickly before slipping back onto the bridge. "What have we got?"

"See for yourself." Rahna jabbed at the stabilized console. The forward displays flickered on. "This is the latest entry." The screen showed a disheveled and panicky face of an older man. His eyes were ringed with deep dark circles and at least a week's growth of white stubble dotted his chin.

"…I've sealed the door, but they keep scraping at the walls. I had to leave the crew behind, God help me. The scientists said… They weren't supposed to get out." The man's voice was shaky and strained; his eyes darted from what had to be the camera and the door behind him. "It started in the hold, the cargo… started to hatch, the rachni swarmed the ship. They've knocked out the engines… the conn says the Pandora's going down, I…" the recording cut out, leaving the bridge silent. I looked at the faces of my team. Liara was worried, but pensieve. Rahna also looked thoughtful. She spoke in a guarded tone.

"Deputy, the rachni are dead, right? I mean, you and the Commander burned them down on Noveria." I looked away awkwardly. The Commander had taken us all aside and sworn us to secrecy after we had returned from the planet. While the official report to the Alliance mentioned the survival of a rachni queen, the entire affair had been declared classified.

"Yes," I lied, but I think this freighter's been out of port for a while, possibly before the destruction of Peak 15." Rahna looked unconvinced. I fished through the flight recorder's data and threw up the ship's previous flight path. The ship had taken a long path through a number of relays before popping out in the Acheron system. "Look at this, the Pandora set off about a week before we touched down on Noveria. Binary Helix seemed to be moving a lot of their stock off planet."

"Perhaps at the order of Saren." Liara posited.

"That makes sense. He knows we're onto him, so he unleashes a bunch of angry bugs on our far-flung bases to distract us." Rahna said.

"The recording says that they weren't supposed to hatch, is it possible this was an accident?" Liara asked.

Out in the hall shots rang out. We all turned as one to see Wrex barrel down the hall. "Forrest, what's going on?"

"I winged it, Deputy." The sharp eyed marine peered into the shadows. "It skittered off down the hall there."

"Great." I said, angrily. "Forrest, get the team back to the Mako. We've got what we need here. I'll fetch Wrex."

"Yes Sir." Forrest snapped. He rose and gestured for the team to follow. As their footsteps faded, I turned to the side corridor Wrex had taken. I steeled myself, and set off into the dark.


	27. Chapter 27: Durand

Interloper: Chapter 27

The deck plate clattered with the footsteps of the krogan ahead of me. I followed closely, almost catching up. Wrex seemed to be following something, because he chose a weaving path through the corridors and rooms of the downed freighter.

"Damn it Wrex, we're leaving!" I yelled after him, but he either didn't hear, or didn't care. He turned again, this time actually butting his way through a blocked door. The debris that was piled against the doorframe fell away at the same time I skidded to a halt at Wrex's elbow. "Oh…" the sight that met my eyes was not one I wanted to see. Egg sacs were piled as high as the eye could see in the ship's cavernous hold. There had to be hundreds, each burst open to reveal the fleshy interior. All empty. Weak light streamed in from rips and tears in the ceiling where the "cargo" must have escaped out onto the volcanic surface.

"Little bastard's not getting away from me!" Wrex rounded on something in the back of the hold. It scrabbled into a beam of ruddy light. A small, quick footed rachni warrior raised its tentacle pods above its head in challenge. It chittered madly and moved as if to launch its acidic threads. Wrex blew it away with an evil chuckle. He turned to me with a glint in his eye. "You still here?"

"I gave you an order, Wrex. Guard the back door. Not go running off after the first thing you see move, guard. The. Door." I stepped closer, as close as I dared with Wrex's shotgun still in his hands.

"And you think I trust you to give me commands? You're more foolish than I imagined." The big krogan huffed. "For the last three hundred years I have served no master but myself."

"So maybe you don't trust me, but I'm pretty sure you trust Shepard. You know, the one who put me in command."

"Ha, Shepard's a strong warrior and has done many great things, but I can't claim to agree with her every decision. Present company included. And unleashing the rachni on the galaxy again…"

"Shepard killed the new queen." I said quickly.

"Don't feed me that." Wrex stomped closer, looking me straight in the eye. "I'm not the dumb monster you assume me to be. I may not have been down there, but I could see it when you returned. There is a queen out there, and I'm going to kill it." He brushed past me, knocking me aside. I turned and watched him walk from the hold. I kicked the broken rachni in frustration. At least Wrex was pointed in the right direction again. I hefted my weapon and left the dark room, tracking back through the ruined ship. I moved quickly from the room and found myself thinking over my next move. The flight recorder hadn't told me anything I didn't know, but the sight of so many egg sacs up close worried me.

"Deputy? You lost down there?" Rahna's voice caused me to jump.

"Negative, Lieutenant. Anything going on up there?"

"Forrest picked up gunfire in the direction of the listening post. We need to move, Deputy." The woman said. "Also, Wrex just stormed out of the ship. He's not going to be an issue, is he?"

"I'll be there soon." I said, cutting off the communication.

* * *

><p>The Mako engine roared. Forsaking the cover of the ridge, I drove straight for the post at full speed. The black gravel pattered against the underside of the speeding tank in a steady rhythm that only underlined the silence in the troop compartment. The thought of several hundred rachni weighed heavy on the team's mind, especially Liara, who had seen the bugs first hand. She sat towards the back with a worried expression etched onto her face, hands twisting together. Beside her Wrex held the opposite attitude, a wide, grim smile spread across his face. His hands held his shotgun ready and he was possessed with an energy, as if he was ready to leap from the tank at a moment's notice.<p>

"There's that gunfire again." Rahna noted. We could all see it now, quick flashes in the ash cloud that whipped across the planet. "Looks like it's getting heavier."

"That must be what's left of the 10th Frontier." Forrest said. He cradled his rifle as a mother would a child, but his eyes were focused more sharply than ever. "The volume of fire they're putting out, they must be fighting something big."

"Or a lot of really little things." I said. "When we hit the post, we need…" I struggled to think of all the things that needed to be done. If the post was swarming with hundreds of wild rachni, they needed… "to disembark quickly. Wrex and Isik, cover the survivors as best you can. We know from Noveria that those strands go straight through kinetic barriers, maybe biotics will have more effect. Liara, do you think you can project a barrier around the tank from the inside?"

"I think so." Liara said in a strained voice. She made a few motions with her hands as if practicing. "Yes."

"And me, sir?" Forrest asked.

"I want you to take all the grenades we have stocked. You're going to keep an eye out for tunnels under the post. If you see any, plug them with a grenade."

"Aye sir." Forrest turned and gathered explosives from the others in the compartment. From the rear view monitor, I saw Wrex relinquish what I knew was only half his compliment of grenades. The ash cloud began to subside as we dashed across the plain. The flash of fire grew closer.

"Tanrim…" Rahna sat forward. On the monitors, we all saw the scope of the battlefield. Behind a set of steel barricades, a handful of marines fought desperately against a veritable carpet of rachni warriors. The large, prawn-like aliens stormed across the rapidly filling no-man's land from a ring of circular holes in the ground.

"Someone get on the gun!" I yelled back. Seconds later the gun chattered, blasting apart the rachni in droves. But it wasn't enough. We could only concentrate fire on one section at a time. "Liara, now would be a great time for those barriers!" the world disappeared behind a translucent blue curtain. "Hold on, this is going to get messy!" I brought the Mako about, aiming for where the hoarde seemed thinnest. The back row spun about and threw their fiery strands across the path of the Mako. The barrier held, shrugging off the worst of the barrage. "Here we go!" the first rachni squealed as the forward-most edge of the bubble impacted it.

"Gah!" Liara grunted and clutched her head as more and more rachni were crushed under the bubble. "My amp wasn't supposed to do this kind of heavy lifting!"

I threw the Mako into a skid turn to avoid a denser pocket of the aliens and slipped sideways around the barricade. I yanked on the brake, bringing the tank to a screeching halt in the middle of the defensive ring.

"Go go go!" Forrest popped the hatch and leapt into the battle. He was followed by Isik and Wrex. They fired into the maelstrom of angry rachni. Forrest took aim with a handheld grenade launcher, popping round after round past the line of insects. The tunnels collapsed with puffs of ash and dust.

"Liara, let up on that barrier and get on the gun, I need to speak with whoever's in charge here." The asari looked relieved to drop the biotic field, but her eyes jerked up to the gunner's seat.

"I don't know…"

"Talk to the VI, you'll get a tutorial!" I yelled over my shoulder as I jumped out into the heat of battle. Ash whipped around in thin wisps. I took aim at a rachni as it peeked over the barricade. The dot of the sniper rifle's scope wobbled across the target, but at such close range, it didn't matter. The slug tore the head right of the attacker. It flopped uselessly over the barrier. A nearby marine in grey armour, the same shade as the Commander's, stomped down hard on the wretched creature. I moved up, firing two more shots. They both went wide as I tried to control the sway of the heavy gun.

"You'd have better luck shooting from the hip." A new voice, female and sarcastic, spoke in my earpiece.

"You in charge?" I asked in reply.

"Yes, Lieutenant Durand, acting commander, 14th Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 10th Frontier Division. Are you our relief?" she looked behind me as if to look for an army.

"I'm Michael Liddle, Spectre's Deputy. We're here with the frigate Normandy on recon."

"Recon? I need an extraction or an army. My troops are exhausted and our supplies are low. We can't survive on half measures."

"Look, Lieutenant, my team is all we've got for now." I motioned towards the line, where Isik and Wrex tore into the approaching rachni with powerful biotics.

"All we've got? You get on that horn and call down your Spectre, and your frigate, and the wrath of God down on these creatures or we will be overrun!"

"It's not that simple!" I got defensive. "We're here tracking a possible rogue admiral. Total radio silence."

"Then I hope you like fighting bugs, kid, because here comes another wave."

* * *

><p>"They're retreating!" Someone yelled hoarsely. They were right; the rachni scurried back under the fire of the Mako's turret. The fight had been long, and hard. Twice the rachni had almost gained the barricade. The second time, one had managed to get its claws on my rifle. In the brief struggle, the powerful rachni had managed to crack the rifle's casing and rip the scope right off the weapon, exposing its workings.<p>

"They won't be gone long." Lieutenant Durand said tiredly. "Everyone take a drink, watch those bugholes." She turned to me and let out a long, harsh breath. "I'm, sorry about my shortness earlier. I understand operational security as much as the next soldier. We've been under a lot of stress recently. But my people, they need more than a pair of marines and an angry krogan."

"I understand that, Lieutenant. Do you know where the rachni have set up? If you can maintain a perimeter, my team can move in on their nest and flush them out."

"Rachni? Nevermind. These things are coming from a maze of tunnels under this whole area. That's how this whole mess started, one of our mining teams busted through into one of them. These things just boiled out of there like termites from a kicked nest. I lost half my unit the first day."

"I'm sorry." I said. "These mining tunnels, are they close?"

"Just beyond the ridge," she pointed, "but my marines are tired, we won't be able to hold if another wave comes through."

"Then we'll have to hold position. If we can drive the rachni back again, they should be few enough in number to clear out. Do you have anything big enough here to collapse those mining tunnels?"

"Yes, my marines managed to secure our listening post's self destruct charges before we retreated. They're stacked up over there."

"Good, I'll have my team load them on the Mako." I gave the order through text command. Wrex looked over angrily in the background, but still moved towards the stack of explosives. "Is there anything we can do to shore up your position?" I looked over to the tall, upright towers of the automated defenses. The Lieutenant followed my gaze.

"They're out of juice; one of the bugs got our generator. They're useless without it."

"Could we use the Mako's power?" I asked.

"Alliance standard power circuits, should work, I'll get a man on it." Durand turned and began to address her marines. I moved away, towards Forrest. The marine stood watch with his rifle slung across his arm. The grenade launcher lay useless on the ground at his feet, ammo expended. He had plugged about half of the tunnels, focusing on creating as wide an empty front as possible. The dead zone had allowed the surviving marines to focus on one side of the compound.

"What do you see?" I stood next to him. He was busy scanning the low hills in the distance. He held up a hand. I peered past him. Then I caught it too. A glint of something in the distance, like sunlight reflecting off glass.

"Someone's watching us, Deputy."


	28. Chapter 28: Tunnel Work

Interloper: Chapter 28

"How long?"

"Since before we arrived. There's another one to the south."

"You think Kahoku…" no, the Admiral may have gone nuts, but he hadn't shown signs of being sadistic. Who then?

"Whoever it is, they're no friend of ours." Forrest turned to me with a grim expression pulling the lines of his face taut. He looked back, eyes piercing the smog that had settled back over the hills.

"Keep an eye out then, I want a report if you spot anymore." He nodded.

* * *

><p>The rumble of movement underground signaled the return of the rachni. Marines got to their feet and fresh ammunition blocks were passed around. In the center of the compound, the automated defenses quivered with deadly potential.<p>

"This is it, people. We hold now, we go home, simple as that. You see something with more than two legs, you shoot it. You keep shooting until it stops moving. You hear me!"

The marines managed a surprisingly raucous battle cry, each one poised and ready, even the walking wounded. I joined them on the ready line rifle tucked into my shoulder. With the scope gone, I had rigged a pair of iron sights to the barrel. The exposed circuits allowed for more rapid fire at least, letting me wield it like a battle rifle. Behind the steel barricade, Isik, Wrex, and Liara flanked me with weapons drawn. I looked to them for support, just as they looked to me for leadership. I gave them a curt nod, it was all they needed. The first rachni burst from the gravel. A rocket caught it full in the body, blasting it backwards. More popped up, all across the arc of the tunnel network. I plugged away at one after another. Each time a puff of superheated air blasted past my helmet. The flash of outgoing rounds and biotic bursts lit up a ring around the base.

"Right flank!" a marine yelled. I threw my aim sideways and took a shot that way. The rachni fell back at the same time my rifle vented. I dropped it in the gravel and drew my shotgun. Its thunder joined that of the soldiers around me. Everywhere I looked, debris of insectoid alien splattered on the ground. More of the wild rachni piled up in mounds, pushing through their dead to get at us. I unfurled my arm in the motion Tali had shown me to activate her program. I flexed my thumb to toss an incendiary grenade out onto the plain. Fire burst across the ground, blocking the path straight ahead of me.

"Deputy, I see another reflection." Forrest's voice crackled past the background static. "I can see them now, two men in black hardsuits, observation glass, looks like some kind of recording device. Should I engage them?"

"We don't want them to know we're onto them."

"They're moving, looks like one of them…" a shaving of white hot metal whizzed by my helmet. Forrest stood and fired almost as if by reflex. The crack of his return shot came a second after. "Target eliminated."

"Who's shooting at us?" Durand yelled. Another blast as a rocket tore apart a rachni drone.

"We need to put a team together, go find them." I looked out at the hills, trying to find more flashes. "I can take one, maybe two…"

"Are you nuts? We are in the middle of an attack!" Durand rounded on me. A marine fell into place behind her and took up her rifle. "We need that Mako's power if we are going to hold this point."

"Then we don't take the Mako." I said, looking for another solution. My eyes flicked from the hill, to the charges, to the tunnels. "We go on foot, through the tunnels."

"The tunnels that are full of bugs?"

"They can't be using all of them, and the shot came from the direction of the mine. We take out two birds with one stone." The tired lieutenant regarded me with an incredulous look on her face.

"I can't tell you what to do with your team, but those marines with you are now under my command. You aren't taking them with you."

"Then I'll take the aliens." I shot back. "Liara, Wrex, pull back to the Mako."

"We're leaving the fight?" Liara replied.

"No, just taking it elsewhere."

* * *

><p>The thin roof of one of the sealed rachni tunnels collapsed in on itself in ruins. Roof tended to do that when they took a biotically aided body slam from an angry krogan. I followed Wrex into the yawning mouth of the tunnel with my rifle up and ready.<p>

"It stinks down here." Wrex said simply. He began to walk towards where the mineshaft had been marked on our HUDs. Behind us the explosives floated down, eerily buoyant within a wreath of pale blue static. Liara followed them with her hands outstretched.

"How are you holding up, Liara?" I cast the Asari a worried glance. Her amp was already running hot when we met up at the Mako.

"I'll be fine," she gave a wan smile. "What is it you humans say? Don't take a girl on a first date you can't match on the second? I'm not sure if I want to know what you have planned for the next one."

"Quit chirping, little birds. We have business to take care of." Wrex rumbled. He kicked at the broken appendage of a dead rachni. Liara and I exchanged smirks. The rest of or trip passed in almost complete silence as we passed out from under the battle zone and towards the mine. Taking a side tunnel, we were able to avoid the rachni. Wrex and Liara took turns hauling the explosive charges through the low tunnels.

"Hold up." I dropped low to the ground as we neared a junction. The tunnel we had been running through was rough, as if chewed out of the rock by thousands of teeth. The path we had just run into was clearly made by blasting explosives and tunneling lasers.

"This must be the mine." Wrex muttered. Behind us the bombs fell to the ground with a dull thump. Liara fell back against the rough hewn wall.

"That observer was just above the mine entrance, if we can get through these tunnels without being detected…"

"Walk through a rachni nest undetected? I have a better idea; you and the doctor make your way to the surface. Set the charges somewhere nice and load bearing on the way up."

"And you?"

"I'm going to be moving in the other direction, making as much noise as possible." Wrex smiled in the dark. "That should give you enough room to maneuver in."

I made to dismiss the plan, but the look on Wrex's face quieted me. The aged battlemaster was resolute and proud. His offer gave us the best chance of sneaking by and tracking down the observer and sealing the mine.

"You take care of yourself, Wrex." I said, taking a hold of one of the charges.

"I'm not the one who should be worried." The krogan jumped into the mineshaft and bellowed a challenge. The yell echoed throughout the complex of tunnels. He sprinted off deeper into the shaft, yelling the entire way.

"Let's go." I said shortly. I gave the bomb a mighty heave. The casing scraped across the floor, the bomb was much heavier than it looked.

* * *

><p>"I think I see light."<p>

"Huh?" The voice was drowned out by the rhythmic thumping of weapons' fire and the harsh scream of rachni below.

"I said, I think I see light." I looked up. Sure enough, a feeble shaft of light stabbed through the relative dark of the unlit mine. Squinting, I could just about make out the outline of a circular door at the end of an angled shaft. Unburdened by the hefty demolition charges, Liara and I moved quickly and quietly towards the exit to the surface. With all the noise Wrex was making in the deeper caverns, the attempt at stealth was mostly a wasted effort. I threw myself into cover at the top of the shaft.

"Do you see anything?" I peered into the dusky gloom. The mine entrance led out into a shallow valley and past that over the flat plains that lay between us and the surviving marines. The post was still lit by floodlights, but no signs of battle were evident. I snuck forward past the bent open blast doors. The diffused red light of the planet's night barely lit the black gravel of the hill, but a path could still be seen leading up to the peak. "This was where Forrest saw the observer."

"Why would anyone voluntarily set up a camp so close to a rachni nest?" Liara asked.

"I don't know," I said honestly. The location of the observation post had been bothering me. There had been no such base mentioned on the mission in Mass Effect. It was possible they were survivors of the Binary Helix crash, but then why would they have shot at us? "Move carefully, we don't want them to see us coming." Liara nodded and drew her pistol. Together, we crept up the flank of the hill, stopping every now and again to get a movement reading. The hill was desolate, completely empty apart from us. "What's this?" just before the crest of the hill, we came upon a hollow in the gravel. "This can't be a natural formation." I reached for the hollow. The side of the hill moved, irising outward to reveal a hole that led down into a brightly lit room. Blinking to clear my eyes in the sudden brightness, I stumbled forward into the tunnel. Before I could catch myself, I was rolling headfirst into the room. I was met with a hail of gunfire.

"Stop or I shoot!" a quavering voice called out too late. I came up into a low crouch in the open space, gun trained on the hapless man in black armour. He held an assault rifle in shaking hands. His unhelmeted face was pale beneath a head of close shaven brown hair. "What do you want?" he stammered.

"You shot at me!" I growled, trying my best to sound intimidating. My eyes swept the room. It was quite bare, with grey walls that seemed to have been cut straight from the dull rock of Nepmos. Behind the scared gunman stood a bank of computers and above that… My heart skipped a beat. Emblazoned on the wall in pale gold was a double hexagon, the symbol of Cerberus. "We have to get out of here." I muttered to myself. If this was a Cerberus post, it was most likely Cerberus that dropped the Binary Helix transport, and if Admiral Kohoku was in the area… the ground heaved underneath me. I flailed madly to regain balance. The Cerberus observer triggered a short burst over my shoulder. A gun returned fire, knocking the observer backward. The ground continued to groan under a continued pounding. I thumbed my radio on, breaking radio silence.

"Ground team to Normandy, what's going on?" the Normandy didn't answer, but the radio crackled with the voice of Chief Forrest**.**

"Deputy, someone's bombarding the planet from orbit!" He had to yell over the crash of explosions. "Wait a second, receiving tight-beam transmission from the Normandy…" silence fell on the channel, occasionally punctuated by the crack-boom of an orbital strike. Liara advanced on the downed observer with gun drawn.

"He's still alive." She noted, somewhat coldly.

"Please… I…" the man pleaded. His eyes had grown beady, darting from me to Liara. From the look of him, he wasn't much older than I was.

"What is Cerberus doing here?" I asked. The man's eyes widened slightly at the name.

"Please, I, I, we just, we were only observing. The boss said we had to analyze the rachni's effectiveness as a bioweapon. I never killed anyone!" his voice rose in panic.

"But you let Alliance soldiers get slaughtered right in front of you." Liara stepped forward. Her voice definitely held a hard edge now. Her normally placid face was set with cold fury.

"No! I mean, yes, but I didn't know when I signed up, you've got to believe me!" the frantic man was now inching back away from us. His arm reached for the console.

"He's flashing the disks!" I tried to aim for a spot near his hand, just to ward him off, but he lunged for a hidden button near the base of the computer bank. The screens lit up with scrolling text, quickly brought up and then erased. I kicked the wounded observer savagely in the gut and stepped to the computer. Dust was now trickling from the ceiling as the far off explosions grew ever closer. "We need to recover this!"

"Let me!" Liara ran hands over the keys so fast it made me dizzy.

"Deputy, are you there?" Forrest's voice drifted back. "Normandy says it's Kahoku, he's got the whole flotilla up there pounding on the surface. We've been ordered to extract the survivors in the Mako."

"Are we heading to you, or are you coming to us?" I asked.

"Negative, your area is too hot for extract and there's no time for you to come to us. You're going to have to find alternate escape vehicle."


	29. Chapter 29: Debrief

Interloper: Chapter 29

By M.

"Could you repeat that?" I said, my insides turning cold and writhing unpleasantly.

"You're going to have to find an alternate route off the planet; the mine's too hot for Normandy to extract. I'm sorry, Deputy."

"I copy, Chief. Get the team back safely." I cut the channel. I was stunned by the orders from Normandy, but the rock of another hit shook me back to my senses.

"Liara, we need to find some way off this rock." Liara looked up from the console.

"We what?" I repeated myself. Her blue features paled. "Then we'd better hurry." She yanked an optical disk from the computer bank. "What should we do about him?"

"Leave him for the rachni, or the Admiral. He'll slow us down too much."

"Noooo!" he wailed, "I can help you, we have a shuttle parked nearby! We're only supposed to use it in emergencies."

"And you can take us to it?"

"Yes, please."

"Fine, Liara, administer medigel. We need to pick up Wrex, then we'll bug out."

"No need." The gruff voice of the massive krogan croaked behind us. We spun, eyes on the mouth of the tunnel. Wrex descended amongst streams of dislodged rubble. His armour was cracked and spattered with gore. A few open wounds glistened in the bright lights. "This guy is our ticket off this rock?" I nodded. Wrex lifted the ailing Cerberus operative bodily onto his shoulder. The man groaned, but didn't put up a fight. Wrex turned and bolted up the passageway to the surface. I hurried to keep up, but the ground was shaking now more strongly and frequently than before. The four of us burst out into the ashy waste to find a maelstrom of fire descending all around us. The clouds swirled as bright lances punch through the sky, each one detonating in harsh white globes of light.

"The Admiral must be holding back." Wrex commented, "A full bombardment would wipe this place clean in seconds."

"Liddle, look!" Liara was pointing back towards where we had left the tenth. It took a second for my eyes to pick out just what she was pointing at. In the sky above the Marine's compound, the needle shape of the Normandy hovered, buffeted by the explosion of nearby impacts. The bright light of the Mako's jump jets ascended into the frigate's belly and was swallowed as the ship darted upwards. The ground began to convulse almost nonstop as the bombardment swept closer.

"Where's this shuttle!" I demanded to the Cerberus man. My voice must have been lost in the gale, because the man merely squinted at me. "Where is it!" I yelled, louder. His response didn't make it back, but he lifted an arm weakly. I followed the line of his finger. There in the dirt, some twenty feet away, a flicker of motion caught my eye. A large square of the ground was moving, as if it wasn't ground at all. Wrex must have seen it too, because he fired his shotgun at the patch. The round tore away a tarp, revealing the escape shuttle nestled into a hollow in the rock.

Xxx

"Strap him down." I ordered as the shuttle's door shut. The interior of the shuttle was spacious, and even comfortable with the addition of leather seats in the cockpit. I belted myself in and kicked off what I hoped was an autostart. The shuttle kindly followed my directions, humming as it brought itself up to power.

"Do you know how to fly this thing?" Liara belted herself in beside me.

"I've flown a Mako in zero-g, does that count?" I replied ruefully. I brought up the flight controls with a touch. The lay out was fairly intuitive. "Here goes nothing." I jammed the throttle forward. The shuttle rocketed forward, scraping across gravel as it did. I gritted my teeth as the scraping drowned out the blasts. I pulled back and into the sky. The shuttle blasted upwards at my touch. Outside the lances of Kohoku's fleet were falling faster and harder. I set us on a weaving pattern to try and avoid being hit.

"They don't seem to be shooting at us." Liara peered out of the forward screen. She was right, will the blows fell thick around us, the pattern seemed more or less random.

"The shuttle has rudimentary stealthing." The operative said. "That and the bombardment will mask us from sensors until we leave the atmosphere."

"Lucky for us, we won't have to leave the atmosphere." I replied. A familiar shape yawned up out of the fiery swirl of ash. The ship lined itself up to us expertly, hooking us with exterior clamps. The shuttle shuddered as we suddenly accelerated backwards and up away from the planet. Even looking backwards the light show was blinding. The fleet above had apparently moved up to their heavy guns, because each blast lit the entire cabin through the polarized screen and issued forth a rumbling roar that shook the hull.

"Quite beautiful, isn't it?" Liara asked, half mesmerized.

"Yes," I answered, "and terrible."

Xxx

The debriefing was scheduled for the next day. The orders came through almost immediately after breaking the atmosphere, before we even crossed the boarding tube into the Normandy. The shuttle was towed behind us as we left the Phantom Fleet to its mission. The rest of the team and the rescued marines were glad to see us, if a little shaken. The Cerberus operative had started blathering on the way up, and was dragged none too gently to the brig.

"Come in." The Commander's voice sounded from the other side of the door. I straightened the unofficial uniform of the Spectre's Deputy, an Alliance Marine uniform with the markings filed off and replaced with Citadel Council pins. The doors swished open. "Please sit down." The Commander motioned towards a seat set to the side of her desk. "Ease up a little deputy. This is a debriefing, not a court martial." I sat down and looked around the room before returning my attention to the Commander. "I read your report," Shepard shuffled a data pad to the fore of her desk. "It reads more like prose fiction than a people of technical writing but this isn't a review of your writing. Overall, I think you did well, given the circumstances. Mission objectives achieved, no casualties, quite impressive. There was however, one thing…" Something hard and metal clinked on the desktop. It was the Cerberus emblem, still partially attached to a scrap of uniform. "Have you ever seen this before?"

"It was all over the walls down on the planet. At the observation post we found."

"That all you know?"

"No." I responded guardedly. "I know it belongs to whoever unleashed the rachni all over everything. That's in my report though." I studied the Commander's face. The impenetrable mask of her "business face" was in full effect.

"So what's Cerberus?" the woman asked, rapidly shifting gears. The question tripped me up. It must have shown, because the Commander leaned forward, features drawn. "Your helmet mike picked up the word, I just thought it was interesting that the friend you brought back with you admitted to being part of an organization of the very same name." she leaned back. "What's the matter, not feeling very talkative today?"

"Commander…. I…"

"You know, Captain Anderson told me he couldn't find you in the Eden Prime records, even after a 98% restoration was run. I convinced him not to arrest you on the spot because I thought you'd be an asset and because I thought you could be trusted. But you're not some simple farmer, are you?"

"No Commander."

"Now the question is, what are you? You're not a militiaman, you're not a farmer, nor are you a scientist, and I find it hard to believe you're an Alliance black ops operative. From your team's reports, this post was as much surprise to you as it was to them, and I doubt this Cerberus would be willing to take potshot's at one of their own. So what's your story? And I want the truth."

"They picked me up out of school," my mouth began moving of its own accord before I could stop it. "They called it an internship in science. But once I saw what they were doing, and what they were all about, I stowed away on a ship and escaped to Eden Prime. That's why I'm not in the records there."

"That's more or less what I thought." Shepard said after a long silence. "The boy in the brig said much the same thing, although he seems never to have suffered from the same attack of conscience. Sounds like you got out just in time, this Cerberus is bad news."

As the Commander kept talking, I felt my body loosen from the paralysis that had gripped it from the moment Shepard had mentioned Cerberus. Every word seemed to bring me further from being thrown in the brig alongside the other guy. I found myself telling lies more easily once the first had apparently been swallowed, although the whole affair kept me on edge. I tried to reveal as much about the organization as I could without letting slip some future knowledge, or something impossible for a new recruit to know. I mentioned being trained on a moving space station. Shepard listened intently. The debriefing was draining, and at the end, I left shaken. Kaidan stood silently at the door as I passed, his face stony. The rest of the crew seemed none the wiser, clapping me on the back for a successful mission. I wandered dazedly past them.

Author's Note:

Interloper is back! I apologize for the long delay. I'd like to thank all of you who have patiently waited. Now that I'm back on the writing track, hopefully these can start coming out on a regular basis again. Special thanks to user Dr34dnoise ,whose dedication to reviewing each and every chapter is what inspired me to take up the pen once more. See you next week.

-Liddle Out


	30. Chapter 30: Splashdown on Virmire

Interloper: Chapter 30

The sound of a docking ship shook me from my sleep. The restless nap I had begun after returning from my debriefing had become a fitful slumber. I pulled on my rumpled uniform and rushed out of the barracks.

"What's happening?" I asked the first crewmember I ran into. He was a member of maintenance I had met only a few times before.

"That was the boarding ramp, we're at our rendezvous."

"Rendezvous?" I asked nervously. Had Shepard seen through my story? Was I to spend the rest of the Reaper War locked up in a jail cell?

"With the _Everest_, We're taking on marines." The mechanic answered before leaving to see to his duties.

_Taking on Marines? Nothing to do with me then._ I took the stairs up to the command deck. About halfway up, I had to step aside for a stream of men and women in full battle dress. The hard faces didn't seem to register my presence. After about twenty the stream diminished and was replaced by a handful of techs hauling crates of gear. I slipped past these and found the Commander and Lieutenant Alenko conferring with an Alliance Captain. Shepard drew back and saluted the man, a gesture he returned crisply before spinning on his heel and striding out of the ship.

"Seems a little excessive, don't you think?" A voice said at my elbow. I turned to see Garrus. "A whole platoon to check on a missing Special Task group. Knowing the Salarians they simply got distracted by some shiny rocks." He chuckled.

"Why are we loading up on so many soldiers for this?" I asked.

"From what I've gathered, command got scared of your mad admiral's little stunt on Nephmos. Don't want their prime PR asset getting herself killed on a routine mission. Though if you ask me, a platoon of soldier's won't change much if we run up against a fleet again."

"They might just do something against the Geth though." I uttered absentmindedly.

"You think we're going to have a run-in with the Geth?" Garrus asked, "What gives you that idea?"

"Just a hunch." I said lamely.

"You know the thing I don't like about your hunches, they're starting to have a frightening habit of coming true." Garrus said sagely. "Though I think I would prefer the Geth to more of those Rachni."

"You and me both, Garrus." I said, watching the _Everest_ drift away on a nearby monitor, "You and me both."

Xxx

"You're up late." Liara sat across from me at the mess table. I hurridly closed out of the yellowjacket program. I had been writing a message to a man who claimed to have jumped ship from Kohoku's _SSV Manzikurt_, and with all the new marines filling the crew quarters and the cargo bay, the ship was running out of private spaces.

"Going over the Nephmos disk. Thanks for saving me a copy by the way. I never would have been able to pry it out of the ONI tech."

"Commander Amasova does like to hold on to her information, doesn't she? You're just lucky I made a copy for myself. Never know when something like that will come in handy. I would have expected you to be preparing for Virmire though."

"I have a creeping feeling the Commander won't be asking me along for the mission to Virmire, and I definitely won't be leading troops." I said sadly.

"Because you were recruited for Cerberus?" Liara asked bluntly. "Yes, I heard about that," She added at the expression on my face. "It is fortunate the _Normandy_ is not a water craft, the number of loose lips that work on it. But I do not believe the Commander would have let you stay if she didn't still trust you. At least, I suspect." She finished, as if not entirely convinced herself.

"Thanks, Liara." I closed my omni-tool. I looked over at the blue alien. Her expression was distant, as if the mind behind it was far off. It was a look that reminded me of when she had first come aboard, a look that I had become increasingly accustomed to not seeing. "You nervous?"

"No… Yes… A little. That bombardment rattled me a little I think. I've never been in the epicenter of so much noise."

"Me neither, I actually still get a ringing in my ears when it gets really quiet." I, of course had something else to worry about, something I had been trying to keep off my mind when the Asari had sat down. The decision Shepard would have to make within a few days, who would be getting left on Virmire. The whole issue had been muddied by the arrival of the marines to the point I had spent the entire night running scenarios in my head. Every one ended with a resounding question mark. Too much was changing around me, too much already didn't match what "should" be happening.

"And you?" Liara brought me back to the present.

"Hmm?"

"You seem distracted." She clasped my hand in hers. "Don't worry; I'm sure the Commander won't keep you from where you are most needed. It'll all work out." She flashed me a sweet smile, and even though she was almost completely off the mark as to the reasons behind my nervousness, for that brief second, I believed her.

Xxx

Twenty Alliance Marines and all of their gear stood arrayed behind the Mako the morning of the Virmire drop. From the seat of the Mako, I could see each and every face ready for action behind the helmet plates.

"Prepped for jump, prepare to open forward hatch." He precise commands of the Marine's Jump Coordinator filled the headset perched in one ear. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, closing my eyes. Outside the armoured shell of the Mako, the sharp whistle of the wind filled the bay. "Deputy, you are cleared to begin your drop." My eyes snapped open and my hands clasped the controls.

"Deputy Liddle here, beginning my drop." I eased forward, rolling the Mako ever so slowly towards the open mouth of the Normandy.

"Joker to ground team, abort jump. Abort jump and prepare for hard maneuvers." The pilot's voice rang clear over the noise. Outside the bay doors the waterlogged peninsula on which Saren had decided to set up shop blurred as the Normandy went into a tight spin.

"What is going on Flight Lieutenant Moreau?" the coordinator asked sharply.

"Sensors indicate AA installations on the planet. We're being tracked." As if to punctuate his words, a glowing projectile tore through the sky just ahead of us. More joined it as larger guns began tracking the spinning frigate.

"This is Commander Shepard to the Mako, I'm putting you down on the coast. This is now a combat operation. Corporal Jenkins, you are to take your team up to the enemy's Fire Control center and knock it out of commission so the Normandy can push through to the STG camp."

"Understood, commander." Jenkins replied from the gunner's seat behind me. "We'll get that sky cleared."

"See that you do Corporal. Shepard out." The connection closed with a snap.

"She doesn't sound happy." I noted.

"Probably doesn't like those orders to stay out of the thick of it." Jenkins replied as the ship straightened up and dove for the deck. "Can't say I'm too fond of all these new guys filling the berths myself. No offence guys." If the four marines sharing the Mako had any opinion of Jenkins, they kept it to themselves. "We should jump now, unless you'd prefer to be a pancake of course."

I revved the engine and dove nose first from the _Normandy_. The Mako bucked against the sudden turbulence and the rush of the braking jets, but stayed roughly on course. We hit the water with a splash that drove froth skyward.

"We better get to it then." Jenkins said cheerfully. "Pull in under that overhang up the beach while I get my bearings." I obeyed, driving up out of the surf with a rush of the water.

"Hit the purge for me will you?" I asked one of the troops. Indicator lights blinked green as sea water and one very confused fish were blown from the engine intakes. The soft sand gave very little traction under the hard tires of the armoured personnel carrier.

"Just keep going, the Normandy says it's pretty much a straight shot to the FC."

"On it." I pulled into the shallow canyon ahead. Only the sound of the Mako and the crashing surf filled the air in the shade of the smooth rock cliffs. "Where are they?"

Blank canyons crept by for what seemed like an hour. Nothing had raised its head but a few of the local wildlife.

"Do you think maybe the Geth just took a pot shot at us and ran off?" Jenkins asked as he peered through his scope.

"I don't know, Rick, that doesn't sound like… hang on a minute…" A blip had popped up on the forward scope, distant at first, but rapidly moving towards us. "We've got incoming!" the scope suddenly lit up in a close impersonation of a fireworks display.


	31. Chapter 31: Canyon Run

Interloper 31

"Targets bearing 30, 35, 36, 50, 70, 180…"

"Firing for effect!"

"They're behind us!"

The chaos inside the Mako was matched only by the chaos outside. Geth platforms descended on us from all directions. They sprayed fire as they came, lighting up the kinetic barriers with iridescent sparks. I gunned the engine in a mad dash to move past the ambushing robots. The Mako roared and splashed across a wet bank of sand as I dove past on of the smaller armatures. Jenkins blasted off its head at close range.

"Just like the old days, right Mike!" he called as he swung around to concentrate on a pack of flying drones. "That's two more for me!"

"Are we really competing right now?" I spun about to avoid smashing against a rock face while knocking over another armature. "That's mine by the way!" sand flew as we were off again. "Which way?"

"Uh… Left, we go Left!" Jenkins pointed over his shoulder; he was still firing at the enemies behind him.

"That's a cliff, Corporal." One of the marines handily pointed out.

"Then right, definitely right. And fast, I think these things are multiplying." After hazarding a look back, his remark wasn't far off.

The Mako shot off again, kicking up a slurry of churned sand. The narrow sided gulley looked too tight to fit the Mako through. More shots thudded against the shields as we rocketed across the open space. Jenkins' return fire scattered a few of the attacking Geth, but more rose to take their place, filling the ranks faster than they could be batted down.

"This is going to be close," I said, "You're going to want to hold onto something." By now the mouth of the side gulley was very close, and obviously far too narrow for the Mako's wheels. On its side though…

A quick burst from the left jump jets was just enough. The Mako popped up on two wheels and sailed through the gap. With a jarring landing, the vehicle settled on all fours again, narrowly avoiding careening into a wall. Enemy fire slackened off almost immediately before dying away completely.

"Why aren't they following us?" Jenkins asked as he swept our rear for hostiles.

Xxx

Ten minutes later we found out why.

"Corporal, this looks like our landing site. As in, there are the ruts we left while landing right over there." The flat expanse of beach, minus where two now softened furrows marked the travel of a heavily laden troop transport, was in fact the very same one we had just left.

"Sonuva…" Jenkins brought up a map of the area and cursed again. "Right back where we started and now with all those Geth in the way."

"Corporal, we have to take that FC dow…" One of the marines started. Jenkins shushed him.

"Wait, I'm thinking. Yes… Yes… I've got it!" he projected the map up on the main viewer. "So this is where we are, and this route is pretty much a straight shot, and shallow to boot. Almost a direct route, right?"

"Yeah," I responded, "It's also full of Geth."

"Right, which mean less Geth elsewhere, say, over this way." He traced a line along the coast. I followed it towards the markings that denoted the assumed STG positions.

"Except there's cliffs along the entire way, well until you get here…" My eyes fell on a straight line that lay across the path inland. "There's a wall in the way. Right here."

"Which would be a real problem, if we weren't fighting the Geth. Their logic won't see a viable path through here, so it should be lightly guarded."

"That actually makes sense." I agreed. "We'll have to make it snappy though, or they might come looking for us.

"If there's one person I trust to get us there as fast as possible, it's you, Mike."

Xxx

As fast as possible turned out to not be very fast at all. Twice we were attacked by Colossi that rose out of innocent looking pools of water. Each time I had to dance the Mako around them to avoid the constructs' heavy cannons while the Mako's turret ate away at their shields and thick shells. Three times the Mako sank deep into the wet sand, requiring the jets to pop it out. Eventually though, we parked hull down behind a slight rise overlooking the first gate. The purple hued metal rose imperiously from the sand.

"Now what?" I asked.

"We'll have to scale it."

'Shame they raised the ramp there."

"Yeah, alright you four, get your climbing gear out. Mike, you keep the engine running in case we need to pursue any fleeing Geth."

Xxx

Five forms crept along the sand in the shadow of the cliff. One of them, hefting a sniper rifle, broke off at a shady cluster of rocks. The remaining four continued on. The wall was seemingly devoid of activity. The lead shape stopped and raised a fist. The rest clustered around him at the base of the wall. As I watched from the driver's seat of the Mako, the four shapes started ascending the wall like a pack of armoured spiders. They disappeared over the lip in silence. After a long minute of waiting, the gate started to slowly grind open. Somewhere in the complex of rooms above the gate, an explosion went off. I dove for the radio.

"Jenkins, what's going on?"

"Minor inconvenience. Pull the Mako around would you?" came the reply. In the background, gunfire chattered. The light of the firefight was now visible from the slits atop the wall. A door in the side of the fortifications blew outwards. In silhouette against fire and smoke, two men backed out dragging a third. A fourth man stood firing back into the room they had just left. The Mako eased forward as they fought their way back across the parapet. Then, as they reached the lip, something massive emerged from the open door. A Geth Prime strode out, firing as it came. Its shot knocked one of the marines smoking from the wall. The other two mobile soldiers diving for cover. The sniper on the rocks attempted to cover them, his piteous fire bouncing of the Prime's thick shielding.

The Prime whirled on the sniper, sending him scrabbling for cover with a long range shot. I sat stunned for a second as the construct turned its attention back to the men on the wall. My brain kicked back into gear hard enough to bounce me out of my seat. I climbed back into the crew compartment and clambered into the gunner's seat cursing my inactivity. Leaning into the gun sight, I was greeted with the sight of the Prime readying to stomp on a helpless marine. I snapped off a shot as soon as soon as I got a lock. The round whizzed out and clipped the Geth platform in the shoulder. The thing reeled backwards under the blow, but remained upright. It's brightly lit eye rounded on me. I quickly unloaded another shot, and then another. The Prime had braced itself though, and its return fire began to splash across my shields. The warning light started flashing "kinetic barriers low" but with me in the gunner's chair, the Mako may as well have been rooted to the ground. I kept firing as fast as the gun could load. The Prime had hunkered down by now, crouched behind the parapet where I couldn't get a clear shot. Just as I was about to leave the gun and try to get the Mako into cover, a flash lit the synthetic. The silhouette seemed ragged in the flickering light. More explosions joined the first and the Prime appeared to wilt slightly. I quickly fired another round from the main gun. The round ploughed deep into the Prime's shoulder. The Prime exploded, leaving only a scattering of debris.

I pulled under the wall just as the last marine carefully descended the wall. There was a knock at the hatch, which I quickly opened. The oily smell of smoke and continuous weapon fire rolled into the compartment.

"Get him in!" Jenkins was talking to someone else in a voice hoarse from yelling. The broken body of one of the _Everest_ marines followed his words through the hatch. The man was still breathing, if only barely. Following him was a wounded Jenkins, somehow still looking mildly optimistic. "We'll need to punch through to the Salarians quickly. He's hurt bad."

"Well get that hatch closed then." I said quickly. I eyed the _Normandy's _aerial map. Several open areas and another gate stood between us and the Salarians. And if I remembered right, a whole army of Geth infested every corner. The hatch clicked closed behind me.

The opening in the gate was just wide enough to allow Geth Colossi through, which left more than enough space for the Mako. The tires whirred as they clawed through the loose packed sand. In the back, the wounded marine groaned at every turn and jounce, even through the heavy sedative Jenkins had pumped into him.

"You're going to want to secure for some heavy fighting, we're coming onto another opening." I warned the marines.

"You got a bad feeling about this one?" Jenkins asked.

"It's more than a feeling at this point. Drones at 2 o'clock, high." A small squadron of the flying Geth crested the opposing cliff. They flew in tight formation, firing as they came. The Mako's machine gun slashed out at them in an attempt to disperse them. I threw the troop carrier into a tight loop that avoided the small pond in the middle of the clearing. More drones were now approaching from behind, another ambush. I began a weaving motion to avoid the worst of the fire.

"You're going to kill Truefitt if you keep this up!" One of the marines yelled from the back. The wounded man's groans had gotten worse.

"I'll kill us all if I don't!" I shot back, even though the man's cries turned my stomach.

"I'm setting kinetic barriers full aft! Just keep us straight and try to keep ahead of the drones!" Jenkins called. _Easy enough for him to say._ I dropped gears to the roar of the engine, which drowned out all sounds of battle save the steady thudding of the cannon's fire. The Mako shot forward, passing an emerging armature. We drove into the mouth of a new canyon, this one thin and ropy. I did my best to keep the Mako on track, a task that was becoming increasingly difficult in the tight space. Ahead, another opening widened the path considerably. The Mako was rocked by an explosion of to the left. Snapping my head to the side, I could make out the form of more Geth walkers. I drove away from them, trying to present my still shielded rear quarter. More explosions kicked up geysers of sand around me, but none hit the Mako. On the far side of the clearing, another Geth had risen.

"We don't have time for this, everyone hold on!" I jammed down on the jump jets, pushing the heavy transport up off the ground. The wheels spun fruitlessly in the air as we lifted up and away. I continued to hold down the jets as we sailed into the air, up and over the side of the canyon. Below, the armatures fired up at us, beating away at of underside barriers. The safety cutoff killed the jets a second later, rendering the cockpit eerily quiet. We continued our trajectory over the wall of the cliff and began to plummet. As the nose tipped down the next hollow over came into view. I silently cursed as another Colossus lifted its head towards us. The Mako continued its arc, closing with the four legged construct. Without thrusters, there was nothing I could do but watch it loom closer.

"Liddle! The barriers!" Someone yelled too late. I scrabbled for the switch that would even out our invisible shroud of protection, but we had already flown too far. The sharp edged nose tore through the thin neck of the Geth with a mind-bending screech. The Mako glanced to the side as it hit the heavily armoured back of the beast, scoring that as well. The Colossus' legs crumpled as the Mako's weight landed fully on top of it. Chancing a blast from the jets, I blew a short blast, just enough to stop us from toppling over. Instead we landed none too gracefully in a spinning skid beside the quickly dying Colossus. After checking to make sure everyone was okay, Jenkins was the first to speak.

'Well, that brings you back doesn't it."

Author's Notes:

Ah yes, Virmire. You'll have to bear with me on some of the geography, it's been a while since I played this segment. Hope you guys enjoy it. I think with my current workload, Updates will start coming out on a more regular schedule. So look out for regular weekend updates from now on.

Chaszcz: Rest assured, the truth will eventually get out, but not during the events of ME1.


	32. Chapter 32: The Wall

Interloper 32

A small fire had managed to spring up in the troop compartment. It was nothing the on board fire extinguisher couldn't take care of, but it was just one more item on the steadily growing list of things that were going wrong on this mission. The Mako was on the move again, the fire would have to be taken care of while underway. The drones were back, hounding us like predatory birds. Every now and again a pack would make suicidal dives at the tires or against the turret. Luckily, Jenkins was in top form. His dense net of fire kept our backs just clear enough to recharge the kinetic barriers between attacks. As we rushed along what would in any other situation have been paradise, I began to notice a great deal of debris scattered around, and not from our pursuers. Some of the broken Geth showed signs of weapons damage, but the majority showed only a little scoring in key places or no marks at all. They just lay inert in piles or alone. It would have been eerie if I wasn't focused so keenly on trying not to be blasted into atoms.

"We're coming up on the second gate!" I called as the second barricade loomed into view. The flat sheer face of wall and it's wide, rounded bulwarks stretched the entire width of the canyon except in one place. A gate, similar in size and shape to the one we had just blown through stood closed across the middle expanse. This wall had a little something extra though. On one side, atop a pillar of rock that jutted out of the ocean, stoop a tall tower. The tower opened at its apex, revealing an array of mass accelerators that pointed menacingly at the sky. "This must be where the Fire Control is housed." I noted. I quickly searched the top of the wall. I quickly found the opening in the rock I knew had to lead to our objective. I also found the rows of defenders. The parapet was lined with Geth platforms, each standing stock still. As we neared the wall, they sprang to life in unison and began to take aim at the tank barreling towards them. "So what's the plan?" I asked as the first shots began to fall around the Mako.

"We're down a man, and we need someone to keep those drones off the Mako." Jenkins thought out loud. "That leaves us with four… Pull into that culvert over there, I need time to think." I obeyed, backing in carefully. Out of sight, the Geth ceased fire. It was only a matter of time until they came in after us. "How are we going to pull this off, Mike?" the young corporal asked after letting one of the marines take the gunner's position.

"How am I supposed to know? You're the guy in command, aren't you?" my reply came out far more sullen than it had any right being.

"Hey, don't bite my head off. I would have though the Commander would have asked you to lead this mission after Nepheron, but whatever reason she had for giving it to me; we both know you're the one with the mad plans. So, how do we get up that wall?" Jenkins' face was a sincere mix of desperation and admiration, but it was his tone that caused me to relent. He sounded like I had done many times during my life; out of my depth and in need of a hand. I nodded.

"Sorry, give me a second to think." I wracked my brains. The wall was too tall and heavily defended to simply climb, and Geth wouldn't be easily suppressed by covering fire. Something would have to take out all the defenders at once, or at least stop them from returning fire. Then it hit me. "We knock out the roof."

"I'm sorry, what?" One of the marines asked.

"No, I think I see what he's saying." Jenkins chimed in. "The roof looked like it was held on by just a few struts, if we can hit those…"

"We collapse the whole structure, trapping the Geth under their own armour plating."

"We'll still need to get up there, and those struts are pretty skinny." Jenkins said. "But I think we can blast the support structure for that retracted ramp on the way in, that should give us the leg up we need. And once we're up there, it's just a matter of getting through the roof and into the control center."

"Do we have any demo aboard?"

"No but we can rig up an improvised directed charge for that."

"An improv what?"

"That's marine speak for tying all of our grenade together, dropping something heavy on top of them and praying." Jenkins chuckled grimly.

"Okay, this is starting to sound like a plan. You, start rigging this charge. I'll drive us out and Rick, you take out the struts. Once the roof's down, we'll charge the ramp. Once we get there, you take over the gunning and the rest of the mobile fighters will drop the charge and switch off that gun. Got it?" The compartment was still. The marines looked at each other and then back to Jenkins. He merely shrugged his shoulders.

"Alright." One of them said.

xxx

The Mako shot from the cave mouth guns blazing. With the wounded stowed safely behind a hard-light screen, I was able to maneuver freely. I put my new found freedom to good use, turning as fast as I could and pulling tight circles. All around us the sand danced as red hot shards of metal lashed the ground. The cannon above me spat back with renewed ire. A rippling line of explosions tore at the upper portion of the wall. With all of the jinking going on, it was hard even for the Mako's stabilized gun to keep tracking correctly. Slowly but surely though, the struts fell one by one. The heavy armour of the roof began to sag in places as more and more supports were ripped out by concentrated fire. At long last the cover gave a groan that could be heard even in the cockpit of the Mako and slumped forward into the parapet. More explosions followed as the Geth's magazines were compressed under the weight of the silver-purple alloy.

"Now!" Jenkins almost roared. I kicked the Mako into one more turn, this time straight at the wall. The engine screamed as we tore towards the smoking barrier. Fire lanced up at the retracted ramp up to the top. The ramp wavered and crashed down, bridging the gap form floor to ceiling. I braked hard and skidded up against the ramp, making sure the hatch side faced the wall. "Switch." Jenkins was already out of his seat and shouldering the hatch open. I unbuckled and grabbed my converted rifle. I was out the door only seconds after Jenkins. The oily smell from earlier was even more prevalent here, mixed with a strong smell of salt and a tangy alien smell that carried across the battlefield on a faint breeze. I had to duck as more drones scythed in on us. What had been a rhythmic thumping in the driver's chair was now a sharp whine as the Mako began tracking and killing the opposing drones. Behind me the "Improvised Directed Charge" clinked as it was hauled out of the troop compartment. The foot of the ramp was buckled and torn from its impromptu descent, something I probably should have accounted for. It flexed as we crouch-ran up it in a way that left me not entirely comfortable. More drones buzzed overhead, but they seemed to be keeping their distance. The slight breeze picked up as we climbed until an almost gale force wind blew across the very top. I clapped Jenkins on the shoulder, the signal to move up, once he had given the all clear. Whether or not the trapped Geth were still mobile, they weren't giving us any trouble. The bulbous and cracked roof proved perilous in the cross wind, each of us almost falling at least once on the way over to the baser of the spur of rock that anchored the wall in place.

"Put it right here." I said raggedly into the mike. I indicated a rough patch where the metal roof butted against crumbling rock. The Marines carrying the thing did so, making sure to point the grenade flat side down and hauling a heavy bit of wreckage over the whole assembly. Only at the last second did they rig the improvised detonator.

"All set, deputy. I suggest we evacuate sharp like. These quick jobs have a habit of getting twitchy when people start shooting at 'em." The demoman advised. As if called down by his words, another wing of drones made a slashing attack against us. We scattered to avoid the hail of fire, but not all of us were lucky enough to avoid injury. "Arghh, me eye! Me God damned eye!" the demolitions expert howled. He clapped a hand to his bloody socket. The hand that held the detonator. The detonator that began sliding down the roof.

"We need to detonate the charge now, before the drones pick us off!" Jenkins yelled. He made to dive for the falling detonator.

"Wait, I've got this!" I readied up an overload program on my Omni-tool. I scrambled to my feet as blasts fell across the roof. I raised my arm and pointed at the cluster of grenades. I let go of the overload once it had charged up. The arc of electricity leapt from my hand to the debris covering the charge. Blue wires wreathed the cover metal, sparking and lighting up the space about it. The charge erupted in a flower of fire that shattered the rock above the collapsed roof. A hole had opened in the wall, jagged and narrow, but a way in. "Move in, we have to get out of this crap!" I half ran, half crouched toward the new opening. Behind me, Jenkins helped the wounded man up, applying medigel to his ruined eye. They were able to follow pretty closely until we reached our entrance. I stooped and peeked into the hole. Nothing fired out of it, which was a good sign.

"You wanna go first?" Jenkins asked with a grin. "Unless you're scared…"

"Give me a second; I don't want to run into a 'minor inconvenience' down there." I said as I slipped into the opening. It was a short drop to the floor below. The lights down below flickered disconcertedly, just enough to distort any sense of movement, but not enough to require a torch. A swept the hallway with my rifle. "Clear!" Behind me, four thumps signaled the descent of the rest of the team.

"Creepy." Jenkins noted. "So, forward?"

"Yeah, take it slow though, I've got another feeling." We moved forward under the low ceiling. Outside, the Mako continued firing up at the drones. The sound was deadened by rock and metal, becoming quieter and quieter as we continued deeper into the complex.

"You hear somet'?" the wounded marine said from the back of the party. We all halted, holding our breath. After a few seconds a sound started reaching us clearly from up the hall. First a scrabbling, then a wet slap, then a whine.

Xxx

Author's Note:

So, I now have something I haven't had in a looong time, an honest to goodness backlog of chapters. In celebration, I have settled on a Wednesday/Saturday update schedule which I should be able to safely sustain. This chapter's going up early because I am impatient and because posting makes me feel accomplished. Enjoy!


	33. Chapter 33: Cracking the Shell

Interloper: Chapter 33

"Get down!" I dropped to the deck as a red beam of light split the hallway. "Open fire!" I aimed down the hallway at the Geth I knew had to be hiding in the shadows. The hall lit up in a staccato lightshow of weapons fire. I did my best to pick out the hopping Geth snipers in the gloom, but their fluid shapes almost dissolved into the cracks in the walls. "Try and pin them down, I'm moving up!" I yelled back. Trying to keep myself pressed against the floor, a shuffled up on my elbows. The flurry of shots filled the air above me with stone chips and hot metal, some whizzing only inches from my helmet. There was a wet slap and a shudder right next to me, just out of vision. Looking back I found myself side by side with one of the Geth hoppers. It rippled, getting ready to leap again. My rifle was still pinned underneath me, pointed further down the hall. Not wanting the thing to get a better vantage point on me, I did the first thing that popped into my head. I threw myself sideways, on top of the writhing construct. I felt the powerful flexing of synthetic muscles move under my arms as the hopper prepared to jump, but the extra weight threw it off. Its ill aimed leap ended up propelling both of us sideways, slamming my back into the wall of the hallway. All the air rushed from my lungs, but I held on until I saw stars. I landed roughly on top of it as it fell back to the floor. The Geth bucked in an attempt to fling me off. It was able to throw off one of my arms. Now holding on with just one arm, I reached behind me for my faithful pistol. I jammed the short barrel into the base of its 'neck' and squeezed the trigger. The light from the shot burned my eyes, which still left me better off than the struggling Geth. The tungsten round tore into its circuitry, frying its robotic brain. The Geth went limp. I rolled off the dead synthetic and scanned the hallway for further threats. The area looked clear.

"I think they retreated," Jenkins said, "I got one,, then you got into a wrestling match with that other one, then the rest just off and disappeared."

I placed the pistol back on its magnetic clip and rose to my knees. Jenkins offered me a hand up which I took.

"If we're going to be fighting those things again…" I fired up my Omni-tool and scrolled through the list of programs. I found the one I wanted and readied it up. I aimed down the hallway and covered my eyes. Even past the shielding of my arm, the bright white light that filled the hallway was near blinding. At once the flickering hallway became as bright in the light of a shimmering orb that floated a few feet of us. The flare drone would burn through my on board phosphorus, but its ability to banish the shadows was well worth it.

"Wish you could have warned us about that." Jenkins said, blinking.

"Yeah, sorry about that."

Xxx

We moved slowly down the rest of the hallway. Ahead I could see the open antechamber that housed the Geth Fire Control. The bobbing flare drone lazily floated up into the chamber until it drove out the shadows. It also drove out the Geth Hoppers. Three of them came at us, all at once. Their eye beams played over the party, scattering us to the scant cover offered by the sides of the hall. A shot caught me in the gut with the force of a krogan punch. Had it not been for my kinetic barriers, I would have been core sampled.

"Focus fire left!" Jenkins yelled. The marines behind me shifted their aim and filled a thin sliver of hallway with metal fragments. One of the Geth went down, followed by another one. The last one fell to the demolitions expert.

"What? Just becuz' I'm a Cyclops, doesn't mean a cannae shoot straight anymore!"

When no further Geth leapt from the room, we charged in. The room was sparse. Only a pair of terminals on the walls marked the room as anything special at all.

"Alright, how do we shut this stuff off?" I asked. The terminals scrolled with indecipherable Geth characters, revealing no convenient off switch.

"Well this on looks like the one on the first gate. We just kind of hit the big red button here." Jenkins said, showing me on one of the terminals. There was a grating of tortured metal behind and below us. 'This other one though, I'm just not sure."

"We could blow it up."

I dismissed that idea out of hand. "This is just the access terminal; the actual computer will be buried much deeper." I guessed. I stood staring at the terminal for a second before keying my comm.

"Tali, how much do you know about the Geth alphabet?"

"Liddle?" The reply came back fuzzy and distorted, "What's going on down there? You've been gone for almost an hour."

"Something about minor inconveniences, and two wounded, it's not important," I said with a wince. "Anyway, what do you know…"

"They still use the Quarian alphabet, at least an older version of it. Why?"

"Could you read it?"

"I suppose."

"Good, I'm going to show you the terminal for the Geth Fire Control station; I need to know how to switch it off. Please."

"Alright, I'll take a look, but there's no promises I'll be able to get you in just through visual analysis. Ready to uplink." I panned my Omni-tool across the terminal surface. The device sent the recorded display up through the Mako to the _Normandy_, and from there to our resident Geth expert.

"Hmm…" Tali puzzled over the data. "No, this can't be right."

"What's going on Tali, I'm about to have Geth beating down the door down here."

"It looks like… It looks like the Geth have done nothing to secure their terminals. Their data networks are near impossible to even break the first layer of security, but this terminal's an open book. It's as if the Geth just assumed no Geth would ever have access here. To switch it off, you need to swipe that left-most stream all the way to the right and hit the symbol that looks kind of like a 'raan.'"

"I'm sorry, a what?"

"You know, 'raan,' comes after 'shal.' Oh wait, you can't read Quarian, can you?" she said, sounding a little sheepish. "The… umm… squiggly one with a line through it."

"Thank you Tali." I followed the directions. The terminal squawked an acknowledgment. "Ground team to _Normandy_, the FC should be down. Can you confirm?"

"Confirmed, Ground team. Bringing the fire, might want to shuffle on out of there in a hurry." Joker's voice replied.

"You heard the man, let's get out of here." Jenkins ordered. The hallway remained empty all the way to the entry hole. "Ascender's and ropes, on the double."

I was able to see how the marines had climbed the first wall close up this time. Using wrist mounted mass effect catapults, the soldiers launched anchors into the roof above. Miniaturized motors in their belts hauled them up and out. I had to grab Jenkins' arm on his way up. Up on the ruined roof things were much calmer than when we had dove into the tunnel. Above, the sky was smoky but clear of Geth. Scattered across the ground was the wreckage of the aerial drones.

"_Normandy's_ not too far out. I recommend we take the quick way down." Jenkins said. I was about to ask exactly what that the 'quick way' meant, the other marines filled me in. They jumped feet first and slid down the battered wall, allowing the soft sand below and their kinetic barriers take the force of their landing, I wasn't a second too soon as the air filled with the scream of frigate engines. The _Normandy_ roared overhead, the thunder of its guns blotting out all other sound. The peals, almost like a lightning storm, that accompanied the twin blasts almost deafened me. The gun tower was gutted, then flattened under repeated attack. When the _Normandy_ was done, it waggled its wings and jetted off towards the stranded Salarians.

Xxx

The Mako pulled up to a fascinating, if familiar sight. A wide and open beach dotted with small prefab buildings lay next to a shallow yet wide cove. The pale blue water wouldn't have been out of place in a Caribbean cruise destination were it not for the occasional bobbing of destroyed Geth. Behind the small camp, the _Normandy_ rose skyward with its ramp open. Up and down the ramp ran teams of men, women, and Salarians as they bustled to prepare something for lifting. Sentries on the beach spotted us as we turned the corner and motioned for us to head in and park alongside one of the bigger shelters. I popped the hatch as soon as we came to a complete stop. The wounded men were brought out first by a detachment of Salarians led by Doctor Chakwas. The rest of Jenkins' small squad bailed out as I finished the shutdown sequence. By the time I dropped out onto the hard packed sand of the STG base, the camp had fallen back into its usual uneasy vigilance. I turned to and fro, looking for direction until my eyes fell on the largest shelter. In the shade of the prefab, Commander Shepard stood at a table alongside Garrus and Wrex. Across from them stood the salarian captain, Kirrahe, and his lieutenants. The whole group was talking animatedly.

I made for the group at a slow jog. The air was oppressive outside the climate controlled interior of the tank to the point that I had to take a breather just out of view of the planning meeting before going in. Walking in the door, I was just able to catch the end of a sentence before the group was interrupted by one of the guards.

"Can I help you, human?" the group turned almost as one.

"Ah, Captain Kirrahe, this is my deputy, Michael Liddle. Liddle, I just got Jenkins' report." Shepard said coolly.

"Liddle? Yes, STG has files on you, unusually small for someone in your position, plan to rectify." The salarian captain said in one breath. "Your exploits, interesting to us."

"Yes, very interesting." Shepard broke in. "Liddle, I need you to run a diagnostic on the Mako. Most likely we'll be needing it in our plans. You are dismissed." And with that she turned back to the planning table.

Xxx

Tucked under the torn nose of the Mako, I barely registered the approach of a pair of feet.

"You okay?" I almost dropped the crowbar I had been using to lever bits of Geth out of the rent in the armoured nosecone. I shaded my eyes and looked up at an armour clad and mildly sunburnt Corporal Steiner. "You know I've never heard anyone call a Mako any of those names. Pretty inventive."

"I'm fine, Corporal." I managed after catching the crowbar.

"Oh, it's 'Corporal' now is it?" The soldier leaned back against the Mako. "Well, 'Deputy,' I just thought I'd let you know, you stay frustrated like that you're liable to get yourself shot, or get me shot, which won't make me happy at all." I shuffled out from under the nosecone and swiveled to face her.

"I'm not frus… How would I get you shot?"

"You haven't heard? We're in the van my friend. We're going to help the Salarians draw off the Geth so the Commander can blow the place."

"But won't they need the Mako wherever they're going?"

"Oh ho, Mako's are for officers. You're really one of us now." Steiner said. She gave me a look of mock sadness. "I don't know what you did to earn the honor, but…"

"What!" a gravelly voice that could only belong to one person bellowed from somewhere further down the beach. "These are my people, Shepard!" Wrex strode away from the command shelter looking absolutely livid with rage. Shepard followed him closely, not looking much happier.

"These aren't you're people, Wrex. They're copies, bred for Saren!"

"Any copy is better than none at all. You don't understand, Shepard!"

"What do you think this is all about?" Steiner stood up straighter.

"I'm guessing is has something to do with this strike." I said, trying not to let on I knew exactly what had the ancient krogan warrior riled up. "And something to do with the krogan from what he's yelling." I watched the confrontation closely. In the game, Wrex would calm down pretty quickly if you found his armour for him, but this galaxy didn't follow such some hardcoded set of responses, and was wandering further from my ability to guess the outcome of events. I searched the beach for Ashley. She was quite a bit further down the beach, sharing a close conversation with Jenkins, and not in any position to take out a rampaging krogan should Wrex not listen to reason. I checked my own pistol, desperately hoping I wouldn't have to put it to use. The entire camp froze; all eyes on the mercenary and the SPECTRE.


	34. Chapter 34: The Hard Bit

Interloper: 34

"I can't let you interfere with this mission, Wrex. If Saren gains access to an unlimited supply of Krogan warriors…"

"And I can't let you destroy what might be the best chance of ridding my people of the Genophage! My people need this Shepard." The krogan's angry voice now held an undercurrent of desperation that seemed utterly alien in his usually gruff countenance. "And if you're determined to see it all burn, I'll have to put a stop to it myself." The krogan reached behind his back and retrieved the shotgun held there. The whole camp sprang to life. The Salarians were first to act, pulling a variety of weapons on the increasingly erratic battlemaster. I found myself rising with a gun in hand, but Steiner held me back. Shepard herself was yet to pull out her sidearm; in fact she had a hand out, signaling the rest of the camp to stand back.

"Wrex, you have to realize what's at stake here. Not just the fate of your people, but the whole galaxy."

"Why should I care about the rest of the galaxy, they've already turned their back on the krogan. My only option is to protect my own kind."

"They're not 'your kind,' Wrex, can't you see that? They're being bred for slavery, slavery to the Reapers. The krogan deserve more than they've gotten, I know that, but this is neither the time nor the place to start righting wrongs."

"Righting wrongs? This is about more than a little social justice. This is survival."

"This isn't the way, Wrex. This isn't the way." Shepard slowly approached him, hands still turned down in a non-threatening manner. Behind Wrex, a number of Salarians were taking up position, ready to act in case the krogan went berserk. They were even less likely to show him mercy than Williams would have in their position. Wrex's brooding form was silent for a long time. Some of the twitchier STG troopers looked about ready to jump the gun when he lifted his head with a feral grin.

"Fine, I'll trust you this once, Shepard. If this place needs torching, I'll make sure to get it done right. But if you ever stand between me and a cure for my people again, not even the entire STG could save you." And with that he turned and brushed by the camp guards, making sure to knock one to the ground. With the situation defused, at least for the moment, I was able to breath easily, at least for a while.

* * *

><p>The Mako departed with a bass rumble. It was odd to see its taillights, and watching the IFV rumble off with not only Commander Shepard, but Tali, Liara, Wrex, and Garrus as well. The Mako turned a corner into one of the many side gullies that spiraled mazelike away from the camp.<p>

"Alright, listen up people!" Ashley Williams stood before the assembled human marines while Kirrahe did the same with the STG. "According to the intel gathered by our good friends in the STG, this place is a krogan cloning facility for Saren and his goons. It's Shepard's job to shut it down, but it's our job to do the hard work, we will be drawing the Geth guarding this facility away to allow her strike team to enter. As my counterpart said, we must hold the line, no matter what comes at us, we hold. You get me?"

"We get you, Chief!" the _Normandy _and_ Everest _marines gave a resounding cheer before making ready their rifles. The Salarians were more subdued, grimly readying their own weapons.

"That's what I like to hear, let's move out!" she hopped down from the crate she had been using to address the platoon and turned towards the cloning facility. The mixed group of soldiers and specialists fell in behind her at a fast jog. We pounded towards the Geth base in determined silence. While the two rousing speeches did a lot to fire the blood, every one of us knew the odds we would be facing. I tried not to let the worry show on my face, my mind raced above the steady thumping of boots on ground. I had a terrible feeling this would be the final mission I took part in. As part of the diversionary force, it was almost inevitable that I would be one of the ones ambushed when Saren returned to close the trap. Shepard would be given the choice between protecting the bomb, and rescuing us. And if she showed half the dedication to the mission that she had shown so far, my prospects weren't looking good. I trudged on regardless, trying to keep my head down. The first drops of rain began to patter on my hardsuit's helmet.

* * *

><p>A heavy breeze had begun to blow across the river. On the far bank, the high walls and spires of the Geth compound rose up into the sky as if growing out of the ground. Already the light smattering of rain had risen in tempo and volume, stirring up the sluggish current until it seethed against the shore. From the cover granted by the larger shrubs and bushes, the mixed Marine and STG force watched the Geth patrols walk the top of the wall. The attack began without warning. Smart munitions launched from portable mortars opened up on the compound with a fury that lit the early twilight. Rents were torn in the compound walls and Geth were shattered and broken. The response was almost instantaneous. The survivors on the wall returned fire sporadically while the larger armatures moved into position. Heavier fire began to rake our side of the river and we were soon pulling back in an effort to pull out the defenders. The Geth kindly obliged, surging from their positions to give chase.<p>

"Here they come!" someone yelled further back in the group. They came on foot, maybe a dozen at a time. We made short work of them, focusing fire by sections in an effort to halt their advance. It seemed to be working at first, but something seemed wrong.

"Why don't they come on all at once?" I asked Jenkins. "There's more than enough out there to completely swamp us."

"You ask me," Jenkins replied, "They're testing us, seeing how many troops we brought along." The gunfire faded away. Some of the troops uttered a halfhearted cheer.

"Quiet." Ashley hissed. The sound of fighting from far across the river drifted towards us. "Damn, the Commander's already got stuck in." the silence among the group continued as shots echoed from the compound. "Where are the Geth?" That's when they struck. Geth troopers moved in from both sides, closing a pincer as a third force slammed into our front. I found myself pinned behind a rock outcropping as shots flew heavy and fast above. I blindly fired over the cover while Jenkins readied a grenade.

"Fire in the hole!" the thump of the grenade accompanied a lull in enemy fire. I hazarded a peek around the rock and snapped off an aimed shot with my battle rifle. A Geth platform was knocked onto its back, smoking.

* * *

><p>"Here they come again!" more Geth rounded the swell of the hill we had moved behind. Twice now we had had to fall back, yet the Geth hadn't eased up in the slightest. We met them with fire and steel, stripping shields and armour from the attacking synthetics. But there were always more, attacking where we were weak and then fading away as more troops were moved to reinforce. Ashley was going spare over the satellite uplink we had detected that was directing the enemy.<p>

"Commander, they've got us pinned against a cliff face. Any news on that uplink?" the _Normandy's_ chief asked over the comms. I didn't hear the reply, but she didn't look happy. "Liddle, I want you up front, some of those salarians are getting a little flighty." I snapped a short salute and shuffled up towards the makeshift fortifications we had dug in the sand. I dropped into the rough trench amidst a small squad of STG operatives. The salarians nodded grimly before returning their round, black eyes forward.

"Deputy Liddle, it is good you are here." One of them chirped. He carried a lancer-pattern rifle from the _Normandy's_ stores and had layered himself with bandoleers of grenades. "Operative Tarel." He identified himself.

"This your squad?" I asked, firing a few rounds over the lip of the trench. The salarian nodded. "Is there anything you need?"

"Stocks of medigel running low, we have, wounded." The salarian sadly turned to were several of his men lay with their backs to the sand. While most looked like they would pull through, if we weren't overrun, a number looked in very poor shape.

"I'll see what I can…" but I was interrupted by a fresh wave of attackers. They announced their presence with the now familiar and hated electronic rattle and the pulsing of the curved rifles. I threw myself against the wall of the trench, firing wildly at the attackers. They moved up fast, each group covering another with interlocking fire, making it very hard to get a clear shot on any of them. With the majority of the defenders focused on the blistering advance, very few had their eyes on the nearby cliffs.

The whine of a sniper's targeting laser reached my ears scant seconds before the retort. Sand erupted to my left, narrowly missing Operative Tarel.

"Snipers on the hill!" I rolled and tried to fire back, but already more of the telltale red beams were focusing on my position. It was all I could do to say ahead of them, rolling further down the trench. Some of the salarian defenders weren't so lucky. A thin black mist descended on the sand as a shot caught one in the chest. He went down with a sickening gurgle. The rest clung to what little cover the sandy wall provided. The snipers had set up in such a way that they could fire down along each line of the hastily dug defenses, using the press of the frontal attack to keep the men pinned while they picked us off one at a time. Just when it was looking like the end was upon us, the frontal attack disappeared. I risked a look forward to see the platforms moving away, from the look of the parts left scattered across the beach, we had done enough damage to give them pause. The brief respite gave us a chance to deal with the snipers. Without the scope on my rifle, it was of limited use against the far off threat, but the Marine marksmen to the rear had no such problems. Their rifles barked, and the Geth sniper fire ceased.

* * *

><p>The last 'sand bag' fell into place. The unassuming sacks had struck me as rather useless upon first sight, sand being unlikely to stop a hypersonic shaving of metal. It wasn't until the so called sandbags were explained to me that I saw the genius of them. The bags were lined with colonies of tiny mass effect enabled nanites that would increase the density of any loose material shoveled through the mouth. With the defenses shored up and the dead or wounded dragged rearwards to await pickup, all that was left to do was nervously watch forward. From what scattered reports I was still cleared to receive, Shepard's strike team had run into the uplink station, silencing the signals directing the multipronged attack that had almost seen us overrun. They were making good progress through the compound, which added a solitary bright ray to an otherwise dismal day. There was a wet slap as someone landed in the increasingly waterlogged trench beside me. Something was pressed into my hand. The field ration's foil pouch crinkled as I turned to see Steiner already tearing into hers.<p>

"Compliments of the Chief." She said between bites. "Eat up, we're shelling the compound again soon to clear out some more Geth. I figure retaliation won't be far coming." I nodded and tore open the foil. Despite the bland taste, I wolfed it down eagerly. Amidst the fighting, I had forgotten how hungry I was. Water dripped from my helmet and off my nose as I stared out across the sand. The thumping of mortars behind me signaled that the temporary calm was coming to an end.

An ominous hum filtered down through the rainstorm. Nervous eyes scanned the sky and the sand, looking out for a sign that the mortar attack had roused something within the Geth Base. The attack didn't come across the hill, or from the opposite cliffs, but straight down on our heads. Geth drones strafed our positions, raking the bags. Screams emanated from the rear trenches. The platoon returned fire. A few drones dropped in flames from the sky, but there were too many and they moved too quickly. I dropped my battle rifle in favour of a shotgun, trying to catch them as they swooped in close. Behind me, Steiner cursed as she aimed up at the sky. Her rifle chattered. Her shots shredded into a dawdling drove as it hung above the battlefield. There was another hum, this one louder than the last. Reinforcements were rushing in to replace the fallen flyers as the current wave jetted off to refuel. More marines fell under the sustained assault. As the battle continued, I found myself slipping into a daze, automatically firing, ducking, and weaving. The battle had dragged on for at least a few hours now, and it was getting exhausting. I sipped on my hardsuit's water supply and lined up another shot. The drone went down like a flaming pinwheel. Something splashed into the water behind me. I turned hesitantly; it was Steiner. The female marine had caught a shot low on the leg, just above the knee. A thin river of blood trickled into the cloudy trench water.

"Steiner!" was all I managed. I dropped down beside her and gave her a weak shot of medigel from my already depleted reserve. Her gritted teeth relaxed somewhat and she leaned back against the wall.

"I'm alright."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, just hand me a rifle, I've got a better angle on the bastards from down here anyway." I slapped a weapon into her hands and waited for her to swap out the charred ammo block for a fresh block of tungsten. "Well, go on then. What are you waiting for?" She slapped the breach closed and fired a burst into the air.

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

A little early this chapter, but I've been having some network issues, so figured I'd best put this up before it craps out again. In other news, *Warning: Blatant Self Promotion* if you enjoy this story, and you enjoy Harry Potter, be sure to check out my side project, The Other's List. It's something I started for National Novel Writer's Month last year and hope to return to this year. You have my promise it won't interfere with this fic until then. Be sure to leave reviews, any critiques help me build a better tale for you.

-Liddle Out


	35. Chapter 35: Waves of Steel

Interloper: 35

"Fire team, this is Shepard. Drone control located and destroyed. You should have clear skies from now on." Shepard's voice filtered through the static of battle. Sure enough the strafing petered out and finally stopped. I took the chance to pull my rifle from the sucking sand and clean out the exposed workings. I heaved myself up onto one of the scorched and split sandbags before offering a hand to Steiner, pulling her from the water that sloshed around her waist. She stood shakily on her wounded leg and gazed out over the battle scarred hill we were hunkered behind. In the distance, the fires of the Geth fuel station were already visible as a dim orange- blue glow. It would have been pretty had it not been for what it stood for. I flipped open the rifle and ran my Omni-tool over the wires to clear out the muck and soaked in the silence. As I went about the routine task of cleaning my rifle, I couldn't help but feel optimistic. Perhaps the additional marines would be enough to avoid the choice that my fellow players so despised.

"This was always the hardest part of a battle for me." Steiner spoke up. She leaned heavily on the bags. "The quiet part I mean." She sounded pensive. The comment struck me as odd, this quiet was the first time I had been able to stop and think all day.

"Really? Compared to that last bit, this seems pretty easy." I snapped the rifle closed and blew some of the water off.

"Fighting's easy, you fall back on your training and you stick at it till they're dead or you are. They never train you to stand the quiet." Steiner continued her gaze. It struck me at that moment just how much fighting Steiner had done. With her flippant and often blasé attitude, it was sometimes hard to remember she was a combat veteran of many missions.

"I guess so, I like being able to hear the sound of my own thoughts."

"That's often the problem." She replied grimly, "Looks like it won't be quiet for long though." She stood up straighter and pulled what looked like cut down binoculars from her belt. Something was kicking up a lot of sand on the other side of the hill. "Oh no, that can't be what I think it is."

"What is it?" I peered through the storm, trying to get a clear look at whatever was stampeding towards us.

"See for yourself, I'm calling this in." she roughly pushed the binoculars into my free hand. I pressed them to my face and fiddled with the controls that lined their upper surface. Beside me Steiner's communicator crackled. Her words reached my ears at around the same time as the binoculars focused. Both shook me almost to the core in a way I couldn't have imagined before my fall onto Eden Prime.

"Chief, we've got krogan." I pulled back on the zoom until my view covered our entire front sector. The crest of the hill was now covered in red armoured krogan warriors in full charge, giving the illusion of a tide of blood coming to wipe us from our pitiful defenses.

"Well so much for that." I muttered to myself. Already a yell was going up from the other trenches. A smattering of troops were already engaging the krogan, but what few rounds made it past their shields were shrugged off by their insane regeneration. I readied my own rifle with the fervent hope that the sand wouldn't foul the action. My first round went well wide; there was still some distance between us and the crushing wall of muscle. I swore and adjusted my aim. My second shot missed even worse. By now my hands were shaking. I took a few breaths, closing my eyes. When I opened them the krogan were closer. _Buckle down Liddle_ I silently chided myself. I drove the rifle but into my shoulder and fired again. I was rewarded with a hit square on the krogan's jaw. Krogan regeneration might be powerful, but catastrophic cranial trauma put them down well enough to keep them there. I fired again and again as the horde continued its headlong charge. Someone further back must have trained the mortars on the sandy plain, because a plume of sand erupted in front of the closest chargers. It knocked them backwards but failed to stop them completely. The chatter of Steiner's gun joined my own now, the bright needles spitting out to meet the red monsters. Somewhere back and to the left, a distinctly alien cry came as one of the STG must have caught some of the ill aimed but voluminous return fire.

"We need to get out of this trench!" Steiner called at my elbow. I looked away from my rifle to see her already limping of toward the ladder someone had thrown over the back wall.

"Wait, Steiner!" I followed behind, still firing over the lip. The scrabble back to the next trench would be hard enough without a wounded knee. Steiner tossed her rifle up and out of the trench and started to climb. I went up backwards behind her in an attempt to provide cover, for what good it did. It was unlikely these specially bred warriors even knew the meaning of the word 'suppression.' A round pinged off of my shoulder, almost spinning me around and off the ladder. A hand steadied me enough to roll up and into a prone position on the sand behind the first line of trenches. I hurriedly shimmed sideways until I was able to slip into the second trench, landing none too gracefully on the equally slimy floor. Strong arms hauled me up and to the firing step without comment. Hurried thanks were all I had time for before I was firing madly at the krogan again. They were very nearly at the front trench, and would surely have caught us had we not bailed out. As it was they hopped down into the hastily dug slit, standing chest high to the back wall. A position that presented a particularly inviting target. The men and women around me unleashed a volley into the exposed heads of the rabidly scrabbling krogan. A handful were cut down as more jumped in to fill their place. A low angled mortar round caught one dead in the chest and showered his comrades with a mixture of dirt and meat. It only seemed to drive them onward more ferociously. And then, all of a sudden, the krogan were out of the first trench and approaching the second. One landed roughly off to the left. By the looks of things he had already caught the softer side of hell on his way in. It was time to show him the harder side. More than three rifles trained on him in seconds, razor sharp shards seeking his redundant vitals. The heavy krogan thudded backwards, hopefully dead. I trained on another one, much fresher looking. He charged directly at me, lining up perfectly with the barrel of my rifle. An extremely close ranged shot put him down before he could jump down on top of me. I ducked another as he sailed over me to impale himself upon the rear trench's fire. A third krogan dropped in behind me. I whirled to avoid its wild swings and dropped the long rifle, too cumbersome for the trench, to draw my shotgun again. Another splash signified a fourth attacker landing to the left. The krogan I was facing swung again, faster this time. The blow caught me in the gut and lifted me off my feet. I sprawled backward into the fourth krogan, opening me up for another savage punch. The blow was hard enough to sap my shield capacitors, leaving me naked to a follow up. I didn't give them a chance. I pumped two rounds into the krogan before whipping grenade at the warrior's chest. The krogan stared dumbly at it for brief seconds before it detonated. The krogan behind me grabbed me in a tight grip. I let my weight drop to the floor and squirmed into a position to knee the attacker. The maneuver was ineffective. The krogan tossed me. I landed roughly a few feet away. The krogan ducked as if to charge, but I recovered more quickly this time. I shifted my waited and pushed off. I thrust my shotgun upwards, pummeling the krogan in his mask. The punch didn't do much, but the follow up pull of the trigger certainly did. I hunched over double, gasping to catch my breath. The sounds of battle swirled around me in a confusing whirlwind of sound. Two words pierced the cacophony.

"Pull back!" My eyes snapped up. Marines and salarians alike were scrambling to haul themselves up and over. One stopped to give me a hand, but an errant shot made a ruin of him. I jumped up, abandoning my shotgun in exchange for a quick escape. More men were cut down in the mad dash for the dubious protection of the final line.

"Watch it, Liddle!" I landed close to where Ashley was yelling into an unfortunate comms man's ear. "Sorry, Commander, we're all but overrun here. We'll hold as long as we can, but it doesn't look good."

"Hold on chief, we're almost in. Help is on the way."

"Thanks Commander. Williams out." She let go of the comms man and turned to me with grim determination etched on her face. "Drop your rifle, kid?" I nodded. "Look around, there's plenty spare to go around." She slogged off to rally some scattered men on the far flank, leaving me alone in the wide command trench. The forward two trenches seemed to be acting as a fair brake on the krogan advance; slowing the tide just enough to keep them at arm's reach. The mud back here was thick with the fallen and broken equipment. I fished an intact looking lancer and cleared the barrel as my eyes scanned the trench. I recognized a few marines; Rahna stood at the fore, lifting Krogan off their feet and tossing them back, Steiner leaned heavily on the wall and steadied a mortar for a pair of salarians, and Jenkins stood fast despite the scoring that marked the armour under his arm. I made my way towards him, avoiding the dead. The whole ordeal was almost unreal, something from a war film turned horribly, terribly real. I lost my field rations on the way over, mercifully not in my helmet, which had been left down in the forward trench.

"You look terrible, mate." Jenkins slapped me on the back. He looked a little green himself. "Still kicking though."

"Yeah, still kicking." I said tiredly. "When do you think the cavalry will arrive?" somewhere in the storm of battle, I still looked for the ray of hope that I could change the odds, that we could get off this rock with the whole gang still in one piece. Jenkins just shook his head. Coming from the usually unnaturally cheerful Jenkins, the gesture sent a chill through my already soaked body. Somewhere in the din of fighting, I heard Ashley yelling, seconds later, her voice rang more clearly in my earpiece. Her commands almost struck me dumb.

"All men, form ranks! Afix, bayonets!" the men around me stood to, pulling long metal knives that tradition still dictated they carry from their belts. A short rattle of steel on steel rang and ten men and women prepared their ancient weapons. The salarians looked on horrified but resolute. They drew strange curved daggers from their own belts. I looked across, expecting to see Ashley grasping a sword, standing beneath some woven banner out of history, but I saw only a tough young woman gripping a rifle. She nodded to me and turned to face the krogan who were just now escaping the mire of the second trench. "Front Rank! Volley Fire!" she barked. Guns fired until they overheated all down the short line. After the last rifle fell silent, Ashley uttered a single word, just above a whisper. "Charge."

Author's Note:

Will our brave heroes triumph over the endless krogan horde? Is this the last ride of the Interloper? Find out on the next exciting chapter of ME:I. As a side note, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, I've been watching a lot of old war movies to try and get a handle on all these firefight scenes. Let me know how I'm doing in a review or PM, whichever works.

-Liddle Out


	36. Chapter 36: Contested Extraction

Interloper: Chapter 36

Human and alien voices joined in a battle cry that seemed to tear through the air. As the men began the brave yet ultimately futile charge towards the krogan, the cry rose in pitch and volume until it became a rippling scream somewhere above us. _Above us._ I risked a look upwards to see a shape that almost brought me to my knees in relief. The sharp nosed _Normandy_ shot through the air like a hurled spear. Its engines glowed brightly in the gloom, illuminating the green hills and ragged cliffs. Joker's familiar voice crackled through.

"While the scene is inspiring, I suggest the lot of you find some hard cover. Prepare for danger close." The front of the Normandy lit up as air to ground missiles ignited their engines. The missiles streaked out in streams before arcing down towards the ground in front of us. I dropped back down below the lip of the trench just before the warheads ripped into the ground. The ground shook under my feet as the warheads exploded with a deafening, metallic _krunk_. The continued bombardment half buried me in falling sand. I covered my head in my hands and tried my hardest to keep my head out of the water. After what seemed like hours, but could only have lasted seconds as the _Normandy_ roared overhead, the bombardment stopped. I lifted my head cautiously. Around me, more of the marines and salarians also stirred. I shook the sand from my back and shoulders and made to pull myself out of the trench. I helped up a man I didn't recognize before lifting my head enough to see. The sand, trenches, and hill in front of us were gone, replaced by a charred and cratered landscape in an ever expanding circle of destruction. In the distance the _Normandy_ turned around and approached again, this time more slowly. The frigate flared its stubby wing struts as it came in for a landing. The cargo hatch hung open as the ship descended. A pair of marines stood on the ramp, standing beside what had to be the jury rigged bomb. The _Normandy's_ landing legs unfolded, sinking deep into the plain.

"Heard you could use some help." Joker quipped.

* * *

><p>The soothing sound of the deck plates rumbled under my feet. The <em>Normandy<em> was in flight again, this time with half of the surviving marines aboard. Kaidan paced the deck, keeping an eye on the techs as they finished their final adjustments. I sat propped against the makeshift bomb we were transporting into the heart of the Geth base. On the ground, the rest of the survivors moved to take up a more forward position, drawing enemy reinforcements off of the bombsite while the thing was prepared to detonate. I looked nervously to my right. Jenkins sat beside me looking equally shaken; this had been our first major engagement. The firefights before paled in comparison. The usually optimistic marine's face shared another feeling, something I couldn't quite place. He must have felt me watching, because he turned to me with a weak smile.

"So are we war heroes yet?" he joked.

"I think we are." I replied, taking a deep, calming breath. Inside, I didn't feel very heroic. We were entering the endgame, the final minutes before the choice had to be made. I felt like a coward leaving the ground team to help guard he bomb.

"Remind me to show you 'Soldiers of the Alliance Frontier' when we get back." Jenkins said "It's a great vid, I just got it." He leaned his helmeted head back against the bomb. "Those guys were heroes, every one of them."

I nodded as I heard the familiar whine of the engines making a descent. The ramp lowered into place once again, letting in a rush of salty air. Below the bowl shaped clearing in the middle of Saren's base rose up to meet us as Joker pulled a fast landing. Jenkins and I hastily jumped to our feet to greet Commander Shepard's strike team. Wrex bounded up the ramp first. His armour bore a few new scars, but otherwise he appeared unhurt. Tali came next, leaning heavily on Garrus. The turian handed the wounded tech off to one of Dr. Chakwas' orderlies. Liara brought up the rear of the party alongside the Commander herself. Alenko addressed the Commander with a brisk salute and began to give her an update on the situation outside the compound. Already the sounds of the new diversionary attack could be heard nearby. The Commander nodded and shot of rapid fire orders. The walking marines snapped to and began the process of moving the bomb out of the hold. A familiar face slid into view and I found myself pulled into a tight hug.

"I heard, on the radio… I was worried." The asari's words came shakily. Scoring on her silvery armour told me she'd had her own share of action today. I tightened the hug as if to reassure her I was still there.

"I'm here." was all I could manage. Even though we were separated by two layers of heavy ceramics and metals, I felt a little warmth spread back into my shaking limbs.

"You look like hell." She regarded me as we pulled apart. I checked myself over and couldn't help but agree. Parts of my armour were blackened by near misses; the rest of me was covered in a film of sand, blood, and krogan.

"I feel like hell. There were moments there; I thought I wouldn't be getting out, but…"

"You're here." Liara finished. "The Commander…"

"Wants to speak with you. Dr. T'soni, if you please." Shepard walked up behind us. Liara nodded and backed away to join the bomb team. "Walk with me, Deputy." The Commander motioned for me to follow. I nodded dully and walked behind her as she walked down the ramp and into the light patter of rain that still hung in the air. We splashed across the shallow basin. Men saluted us as we passed. Liara offered a weak smile as we left the basin through the guarded security doors. The wind picked up as we walked out across a narrow ledge, suspended at both ends by spindly metal structures. "I'm glad you made it through. That kind of fighting's rough." Shepard's words shook me out of my own thoughts.

"Thank you, ma'am." I said stiffly. Shepard caught me by the elbow.

"Please, it's Shepard." When I didn't reply, she continued, "I've been thinking about your situation."

"Commander, I can explain…."

"That won't be necessary. I've been talking to Anderson. We've both decided that your past won't conflict with our current mission. We've all done things we've come to regret, Liddle. And besides, anyone who goes through the events of today and volunteers for more is okay in my books. Now, there's something you're probably going to hate me for asking of you, but we've stumbled onto something that might put an end to this entire conflict." We stopped in front of a larger door. This one showed signs of battle damage. We were standing in front of a tall tower, one that my racing brain couldn't quite place. Shepard waved a hand across the door's pitted surface, Omni-tool alight. The doors grated open. I saw a room, split leveled. Atop a suspended balcony stood what looked like a projector, while half way up the room… A Prothean beacon. It all came back to me; this must be Saren's private office. I followed the Commander up the short ramp to the beacon.

"You want me to read it?" I asked, "You didn't trip it on your way through?"

"Believe me, we tried. It must be keyed only to activate for someone who's already interacted with another beacon." I stared down the flat, softly glowing obelisk. The thing seemed to buzz in the back of my brain.

"Here we go again." I muttered. I reached out with one hand while adjusting the neural screen. The buzzing grew until it roared in my ears, blotting out any other noise. My hand stopped, inches from the strange metal. I felt an encouraging hand on my shoulder, and bridged the gap. My fingers tingled with a discharge of static electricity and my mind flooded with images. A green hill, a winding road, the number 27, a door. The images filled me with homesickness. More images were coming now, the same disjointed jumble, but I felt an understanding ripple just below the surface. I saw the Prothean's final message play out in full, with the final note in their dying song, Ilos.

I fell backwards, quickly raising the shroud to block out the noise. Shepard caught me before I hit the floor.

"Liddle, are you alright?" I bit back a retort. "Did you see where Saren is trying to go?" I was about to respond when the back of my neck started to prickle.

**Interloper, you profane this galaxy with your presence.**

Shepard and I turned slowly. Above us, burning in bloody red was an image of _Sovereign_. His voice pressed on my mind with the weight of a mountain.

**It matters not. You are an insignificant anomaly in the inevitable cycle of things.**

"What do you mean? What cycle?" Shepard was speaking now, questioning the reaper.

**It is not something you can comprehend. Only know this, it is something that can't be stopped. The Protheans had a star empire spanning the galaxy, and yet we swept them aside. You too will join them in obscurity.**

"So you're not working alone? How many of you are there?" Shepard asked crossly.

**We are numberless, without beginning, without end. It is irrelevant; the least of us is greater than the very height of your civilizations. This conversation is over.**

"Wait…" the projection closed with a snap. The console went dark. "Damn it." Shepard smashed her fist against the dead projector. She rounded on me, looking somewhere between angry and resigned. "Did you at least get a fix on what Saren is looking for?"

"Yes, I did." I said. Before I could continue, Joker's voice filled the room.

"Uh, Commander, I don't know what you did, but that dreadnaught of Saren's just pulled a turn that would shear any of our ships in half. He is inbound, and fast. I suggest you wrap this up so we can get out of here."

"Roger that, Joker. Keep the engines warm. Liddle, we'll debrief later." I nodded and followed her out. We splashed towards the bomb site to the sounds of heavy fighting. Somewhere in the compound, the Geth had found reinforcements. "Eyes open, Deputy, sounds like we're not alone out here." Shepard drew her pistol and moved in close to the wall. I tried my best to shadow her. We turned the final corner before the doors that separated the walkway from the bomb site. The Marine guards were nowhere to be found. In their place was a squad of Geth. The synthetics were clustered around the closed doors, attempting to cut their way in. Shepard caught me by the arm and pulled me back around the corner with her finger to her lips. "There's only five of them." She whispered, "With luck, we can drop them before they respond."

"And if we're unlucky?"

"You stay here; I'll cross over to the cover on the far side of the path. We'll pin them down until we can get some reinforcements. Ready?"

"Ready." I agreed. We snuck around the corner, pistols raised. The Geth remained completely focused on gaining entry to the bomb site.

"Drop them!" Shepard opened fire, her shots lancing into the nearest platform. The Geth's shields sparked and died, exposing it to her continued volley. The Geth went down hard. I added my fire to Shepard's, the two streams intersected on a second Geth. This one went down faster, but not fast enough to prevent the remaining three from reacting. Their angry warble accompanied a stream of return fire. I dropped to a crouch while Shepard ducked and rolled to the right. I kept up enough fire to cover her before dropping behind some extended pipes for safety. I spun out and snapped off a quick shot only to receive a smattering of hits in return. The shots made my arm go numb, even through my shields. I dropped back and nursed my injured arm. Shepard was having her own problems. Two of the Geth had pinned her down to the crate she had hidden behind while the third moved up to flank her. As I watched, she downed the flanker with an overload. I fired at the two survivors one handed, luckily managing to hit one. The Geth rounded on me. The doors behind it opened. The two Geth were catapulted into the air by a strained looking Kaiden.

"Come on!" he gestured wildly. Shepard and I rushed through the open gate, allowing it to close behind us. The bomb site was now littered with debris. Broken Geth lay in a ring around the open hatch of the _Normandy_. The marines were holding them off, if only barely.

"Lieutenant, what's the status on the bomb?"

"We're almost there we just need a few more minutes to initialize."

"And what about the diversionary force?"

"Williams reports that the ground force is pinned down. She says she'll hold them off us as long as she can and to get out of here before we get ourselves killed. Her words, ma'am." Shepard looked grim. I realized this was my chance.

"Commander, let me go help the ground troops extract."

"Out of the question, Deputy, we barely have enough troops to hold the _Normandy_ as it is." We neared the open ramp. Just inside, Wrex stood fast, shotgun in his hand. "I won't order these men and women into a hopeless situation!"

"Then let me take a few volunteers, or go alone. Maybe I can distract the Geth just enough to let them disengage." I cried in desperation. Something in my voice must have struck a chord with Shepard, because she looked out at where the smoke was beginning to rise anew. Her face was set, cold, calculating, but her eyes revealed an inner battle.

"You only take volunteers, and you promise me, if things get dicey, you bug out. We can't risk what's inside your head." She said quietly. I saluted and turned back down the ramp. A hand fell on my shoulder. Jenkins stood behind me. He pressed my battle rifle into my hands.

"I'm going with you." By the set of his jaw it was useless to argue.

"I'm going too." Liara stood with him.

"Liara…"

"No, I'm going. We don't have time to argue." They both stood tall and ready to follow me into battle. Suddenly I was less sure about dashing off behind enemy lines. I steeled myself though; it was the only way to save the men and women who had already given so much. I wasn't about to let my own fears spell their doom.

"Okay, let's do this."

* * *

><p>Geth resistance was surprisingly light between the bomb site and the Ground team's position. What little trouble we ran into was quickly dealt with by rifle or by biotics. I was beginning to wonder what could be keeping the diversionary force pinned when the path ahead of us opened into a wide, almost coliseum like area. In the center, the embattled marines and salarians fended off attack after attack by the Geth who ringed the platforms above. The marines had managed to set up some hard cover in the form of broken enemies and their own supply crates, but the continued firestorm leveled on them was slowly chipping away at their defenses. Our path dropped us out on one of the higher rings, a perfect ambush position. I leveled my rifle on the nearest Geth. The compact tungsten round tore its arm out of its socket. Beside me, Liara and Jenkins engaged the Geth with fervor. Geth were knocked aside or just plain bowled over by the asari, while the marine walked fire up and down the row of entrenched machines. The return fire was vicious, but it gave the trapped troops a chance to consolidate and begin picking off their own opponents.<p>

"Down the stairs!" I yelled as I dropped the short distance to a nearby walkway. We leapfrogged down towards our comrades, two always covering the third. Once we had reached the bottom floor, we sprinted the remainder of the distance and dove in to cover. A surprised Ashley greeted us.

"What are you lot doing here? I thought I told the Commander not to send any help." The noncom gave us a piercing look.

"You didn't think I'd just leave you out here, did you?" It was Jenkins that spoke. Ashley looked quite angry at him.

"Damn it Rick, you promised you wouldn't…" she was interrupted by a nearby shot spraying stone chips across her face. "Never mind, just pitch in and maybe we'll get out of this alive.

* * *

><p>Another wave of bullets slammed into the crate above me. The shards of metal clattered on the back of my armour. I returned fire, the bright lance knocking the Geth trooper off of the rail it was perched on. It flipped backwards and fell to the ground. Nearby, Ashley threw what I knew was one of her last grenades. It lit up brightly as it exploded against a wall. A nearby cluster of soldiers linked fire to take down an already damaged armature as it attempted to climb the low barricade.<p>

"That's the way. Knock 'em dead marines!" Ashley yelled.

In the distance the roar of engines drew every eye. The _Normandy _rose from where it had been crouched protectively over the site of the bomb. A rough round of applause went up from the marines around me. I let a small smile crack the rictus my face had been locked in since we dropped down into the coliseum. We had made it. The frigate flitted across the sky, swinging in a wide arc before swooping down across the field. Weapons fire from orbit crashed down on the frigate's barriers while its GUARDIAN lasers struck down the attacking Geth. The open hatch lowered closer and closer.

"Come on people, let's go!" Ashley was marshaling the remaining men, human and alien. Somewhere behind me I heard Liara call my name. I turned towards her and began to run. She had already mounted the ramp into the cargo bay. I was about to follow when the fizzle of barriers dropping and the cracking of failing armour reached my ears. I turned.

"No." I said, in a hollow whisper.

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

Dun dun dun…


	37. Chapter 37: Loss

Interloper: Chapter 37

"NO!" I repeated. Jenkins stood stock still in the middle of battlefield, his features clouded by a look of confusion. I charged back down the ramp, the battle around me almost forgotten. My friend started a long, slow collapse, falling first to his knees before rolling to the side. I managed to catch him by the shoulders before his head could smack into the ground. He felt heavy, limply flailing against my attempts to haul him to his feet. "Come on, Rick, we've got to get you to the doc." I heaved against the marine's dead weight. My boots scraped uselessly against the concrete floor, causing me to stumble backwards. "Come on!" I yelled. A trio of shots ricocheted off the nearby ground, making me flinch and drop Jenkins. There was a hard rap of boots behind me. Someone was tugging at my arm.

"Drop it, soldier. You can't do him any good anymore." It was Ashley's voice, stern yet ragged.

"No, I can still save him!" I clung to the man's chest, still trying in vain to haul him towards the _Normandy_.

"He's dead, Deputy." Ashley cried hoarsely. "Now let go."

"I won't! He wasn't supposed to die! You don't understand, I was supposed to fix this!" I tried to pull away from the chief's iron grip. Her next move surprised me. She made a fist with her free hand and brought it down on the back of my helmet hard enough to whip my head around.

"Stow it Marine! You think you're the only one who's lost someone today." I looked up at her, shocked. The tough soldier looked on the verge of tears. "Now get up, he wouldn't have wanted you to throw it all away." I nodded weakly and ceased trying to carry Jenkins' corpse. I rose unsteadily to my feet and allowed Ashley to guide me up the ramp into the safety of the alliance frigate. "This is Chief Williams, all survivors accounted for. Take us out, Joker." I gave the battleground one last look before the cargo doors clamped down, sealing in my mind the last view of a burning tower. I felt the frigate make a dash for space, heard the rumbling roar of a detonation behind us, and slipped down a nearby wall, head in my hands.

* * *

><p>The cargo bay held nearly twenty coffins, many of them empty. There had been little time to recover the men and women who had fallen among the coves and on the sands of Virmire. They had been given a funeral none the less, <em>a funeral fit for Viking kings<em>, I though grimly. The white flash of fire had lit the sky behind the _Normandy_, wiping all evidence of the Geth, the battle, and the dead from the face of the tropical world. I stood before one of the coffins. The black oval was marked; R. L. Jenkins. I placed a slim datadisk on the shiny surface.

"It's hard to let him go, isn't it?" Ashley walked up behind me. "You'll always remember the first friend you lose in combat. I still remember every man in my squad back on Eden Prime. Troy, Mullet, Moran." The chief lapsed into silence. We stood there over Jenkins for a long time. Finally, Ashley bent and pressed her Omni-tool to the flat side of the casket. With a flash, the device lit up the shiny black with a brief orange glow. When she withdrew her hand, she left behind a short inscription in flowing script.

_The stream will cease to flow; _

_The wind will cease to blow;_

_The clouds will cease to fleet;_

_The heart will cease to beat;_

_For all things must die._

"Is that Tennyson?" I guessed.

"Yes." She said quietly, "You read his work?"

"No." I stated simply. "Maybe I should, he seems to have a way with words." That elicited a weak smile from Ashley. "Chief, when you said I wasn't the only one who lost someone…"

"We were… together." The marine said awkwardly. I looked away. Ashley's face looked pained; I didn't mean to make her feel awkward. "He was a great guy, a little hyperactive at times, but funny, and dedicated. He would have wanted to go down fighting." We stood in silence again. I looked back towards Ashley. She was smiling again, as if sharing one more conversation with the fallen soldier. She looked up at me. "You're a mess, Deputy. Go get yourself cleaned up. I'll keep him company for a while." She was right, of course. I had yet to remove the stained and scratched armour. I bid her farewell and walked towards the elevator. It was a short walk to the barrack's sonic shower. The block was empty; the marines had been quick to cleanse themselves of the muck of Virmire. I peeled the hardsuit back and stepped under the showerhead and wished, not for the first time, for a real shower, with water. The sonic effect brushed the dust, sweat, and mud from my skin as well as any water could have, but lacked any of its soothing properties. I stepped out and dressed and looked to my gear. Marines were already filtering back to their bunks, chattering idly. I ignored them and headed for my bunk, hauling my bag of gear behind me. I carefully checked everything, scouring the casings. I stripped my pistol down and put it back together. I was in the middle of breaking down my rifle to its component parts when my Omni-tool chimed.

"Deputy Liddle, it's time for your debriefing." Shepard's voice said.

"I'll be right with you, Commander."

* * *

><p>"So what is it that you saw, exactly?" Shepard sat across from me in the cavernous communications room. The rest of the team sat arrayed around the ring of chairs, listening intently. The commander was leaning forward in her chair, across the space between us. I spoke at length, the image of the end of the Protheans, the planet Ilos, and the long lost Mu Relay.<p>

"And that's what this conduit is? The relay that leads to Ilos?" Garrus asked when I stopped speaking.

"I don't think so. I think whatever Saren is looking for is actually on Ilos, he just had to find out how to get there."

"And what makes you so sure of that?" Wrex interjected.

"Look, what I saw, is what I saw. This conduit is definitely on Ilos."

"So what's our next move?" Kaidan spoke up. "If Saren knows where this conduit is, then odds are he was on his way when we hit his base. Now that it's gone, he could already be halfway there."

"We'll have to stop him, of course. We need to stop at the Citadel as soon as possible." Shepard said.

"That may not be a good idea. If Saren's already half way there, we don't have time to travel in the opposite direction." I tried to sound convincing.

"As much as I would love to go another round with Saren," Shepard replied, her hand going to a new scar across her forearm, "the _Normandy_ can't go toe to toe with that Reaper dreadnaught. We'll need Council support."

"Ah, Shepard, the council has been less than helpful dealing with the Reaper threat so far. What makes you think they'll send help now?" Garrus said.

"Garrus is right, Shepard." It was Tali's turn to speak. "A trip to the Citadel now will just put us behind Saren. If we could get there first, maybe find this Conduit and take it off planet before he gets there?" the quarian looked around the room for support. Several other team members nodded their heads in assent. Shepard looked thoughtful. After a long moment, she spoke.

"You're sure we can secure this Conduit if we get there ahead of Saren?" she asked me.

"Yes Commander." I said, securing the conduit would probably require blowing it up, but we had all become quite experienced at that.

"Joker, all speed to the Mu relay." She spoke to the ship's pilot. Turning her attention to us, she looked every member of the team in the eye. "This is it people, we are about to jump into a relative unknown, without support and against the orders of our superiors. If anyone of you wishes to sit this fight out, I'll be more than happy to make arrangements to drop you off before we hit Ilos." Her gaze swept the room.

"I'm with you Shepard." Kaidan was the first to speak. As her second in command it came as little surprise.

"And me," Ashley said with a touch of sadness, "Someone's got to keep this crazy little party alive."

"If it means bagging Saren, I'll follow you to the ends of the galaxy," Garrus said, "You can count me in." Tali muttered similar sentiments. Liara looked determined when she pledged her support, while Wrex simply said. "No way I'm missing out on this action." At last, all eyes fell on me.

"I'm going too." Was all I could think to say.

"Good. Alenko, I want the marines briefed by 2100. Sort out the _Everest _men; we don't have the authority to order them into the unknown. Ash, sort out transport for the salarians, no doubt they'll want to go home after what they've all been through. The rest of you, take the time from now until we hit the relay to prepare in whatever way suits you. Dismissed."

* * *

><p>The door to Liara's quarters was closed. I stood outside hesitantly, hand raised as if to knock but hanging in the air still. The invitation to join her I had received between my fifth and sixth cleanings of my ad hoc battle rifle had not been entirely unexpected, but had left me conflicted. Part of me wanted to rush straight to the Prothean researcher's room and lay all my worries bare at her feet, if just to get them out of my system. Another part had grown even more guarded where it came to my secrets. Even the chance of a melding left me distinctly uncomfortable. Right now, the guarded side was winning. Before it could have its victory though, the door slid open. Liara's bright eyes and nervous face had a disarming effect that prevented me from bolting. She stood smiling shyly in the doorway, wearing her usual pale green coat.<p>

"Michael, I'm glad you came." She said softly. She motioned for me to step through. She caught my hand as I moved past and brought me into another hug. "Virmire was… intense. It made me think. What if this is our last mission?" While her fears closely echoed mine, I tried to put on a brave face.

"Don't speak like that. We're going to get through this. Saren'll wish he never even heard of Eden Prime." I gave the worried asari a light squeeze and pulled away.

"The way you say it, I almost believe you. But I did not invite you here to make dire predictions. Well, in a way. I'm not very good at this.' Liara seemed flustered.

"Why did you invite me?" I probed. Liara let go of me and took a few steps deeper into the room.

"I wanted to talk about… I mean... Oh, I'm no good at this." Liara fumbled for words.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm no romantic myself." I said, guessing her intent. The asari blushed a deeper blue, the effect prettily dappling her face. She looked more confident as she continued.

"I fear you are still light years ahead of me. I have spent much of my life alone. I never even…" She halted, looking sheepish again. She took a step back and took a seat on her bed. I took the chair across from her and gave her a questioning look. "What have you heard of asari… unions?"

"Something about merging nervous systems, a lot like when you absorbed the Cipher?" I asked.

"It's so much more than that." Liara gushed. "It is a… spiritual process. Much more than a normal merging. The sharing of thoughts, emotions, memories, all intertwined into a single, rapturous whole. Or so I've heard, I've never participated, I mean, I would like to." She smiled at me, a small expression that made my heart race.

"Are you asking, me?" I asked quietly, unconsciously leaning closer. Liara's pale green-blue eyes grew wider.

"I didn't mean to presume." She stuttered. "I do not know how humans do such things. I just thought, from our previous meldings…" Her voice faltered. I reached for the Prothean artifact I had taken to wearing around my neck. The fragile looking metal strands still elicited an echo in the Cipher whenever I touched them. And, I realized, in my mind.

"No, I feel it too. It's just, a full union, there are things in my head…" I said, thinking of my other life, the lies I had told. They would most likely horrify the alien girl.

"You do not trust me?" Liara's eyes filled with hurt. It made me feel terrible.

"It's not that, it's just… I can't share this, not with anyone." I said weakly. Liara sat up straight, regaining the properness of the researcher. The softness leached from her voice.

"I see. Is it because I'm an asari?" she spoke plainly.

"What, no." I protested.

"Then why? You've always been so kind. I've felt us grow close. Why do you pull away?" Now the hurt leaked into her tones. She stood, a motion I mirrored.

"Liara, I can't tell you, just believe me, please."

"I thought you were different from all the others." Liara said, "I need to prepare for Ilos, please leave me in peace."

* * *

><p>I stood blinking in the light outside the medbay. How could the conversation have gone so wrong? I stepped out onto the deserted crew deck, mind racing. Behind me, I heard the sliding door to Liara's room lock closed. For a long moment I stood stunned. Eventually I floated back towards the barracks. I lay back in my bunk, trying to clear my head, but it refused to quiet. Thoughts of Jenkins, Ilos, and now Liara floated before my tired eyes until I could bear it no longer. I sat up, activating my Omni-tool. For too long I had been happy to slowly and quietly nudge the galaxy along, this time, things would be different. I fired off a message just in time to reach a comm. buoy before the next transition. My work done, I fell into a fitful sleep.<p>

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

Alas poor Jenkins, unfortunately he was living on borrowed time as it is. Next chapter will begin the assault of Ilos and the final stretch of this segment of the fic. I want to thank all of you who have kept coming back, you make writing worth it. Until next time.

-Liddle Out


	38. Chapter 38: Ilos

Interloper: Chapter 38

The sound of a general alarm roused us all from bed. At the door to the barracks, Kaidan was barking orders. I quickly dressed, pulling on first my duty uniform, then the plates of my armour. All around me my fellow marines and crewmen did the same, occasionally someone would meet my eye and give me a terse nod. I flexed and stretched, checking each link in my plates to make sure my repairs were holding. I felt a little stiff and my heart still raced. I took a few steadying breaths and joined the stream of men and women heading out of the door. The majority of them piled into the elevator, but I took the stairs up, hoping to find Commander Shepard. The bridge crew ignored me as I passed, rounding the galaxy map. Shepard stood in her usual spot, hunched over Joker's chair and staring out of the forward viewports.

"Commander." I announced myself. Shepard turned and returned my quick salute.

"Deputy. We're just about to make the final transition."

"Yeah, nothing more fun than making a jump into a total unknown." Joker quipped. Shepard gave him a disapproving look. She said nothing to him though, instead keying the ship wide comm. to address the crew.

"Now hear this," she began in clipped, professional tones. "This is Commander Shepard. We are about to make the final transition through the Mu relay, into an unknown." She paused to give the pilot a significant glance. "I have been informed by my XO that when offered the chance to transfer off at Toshi Station, our guests from the _SSV Everest_ have opted to remain with us for this op, and for that I thank you all. This team, this crew, has been a testament to the honour and strength of the Alliance. I need that strength now, as we ride into battle against those who have taken our friends from us, those who would seek to destroy all that we hold dear. Whatever awaits us on the other side of the Relay can't hope to withstand us. Marines, prepare yourselves. Shepard Out." She switched the intercom off. Even from up on the flight deck I could hear the soldiers in the cargo hold cheer. "Hit it, Joker." The relay ahead of us flared brighter than the sun, there was a feeling of tingling static, and everything seemed to snap away from me, leaving the world black.

* * *

><p>Reality snapped back into focus in a chaotic blur of lights.<p>

"What the…" Joker cursed and threw the _Normandy_ into a tight spin. We had jumped headfirst into a warzone. Bright flashes of light lit the space in front of us as the split wedges of Alliance vessels dueled with the insectoid forms of a Geth battle fleet. A nearby Geth cruiser exploded under the raking of a flotilla of fast frigates, revealing the long, oblong form of what could only be a carrier. The ship took me a little by surprise; I had always assumed that the Alliance's innovative warships would share the dreadnaught's general form, perhaps a little flatter. The ship that floated just outside the furball was quite different, a long, flattened cylinder oval in cross-section. A stout tower branched from its waist like the island of an old aircraft carrier. Even from this distance I could see the bright dots of launched fighter wings. The comm. buzzed.

"This is _SSV Lethbridge-Stewart_ to Alliance frigate, please identify and state your business in this system?" a voice came through. It sounded strained, panicky. Probably a junior operator.

"This is the _SSV Normandy_ under Commander Shepard, what the hell is going on here?" Shepard asked curtly. Joker pulled another sharp maneuver, this time dropping in behind a small Geth fighter group and perforating them with the GUARDIANs.

"This is a classified Alliance operation. You don't have clearance to be here. Please go back through the rela…" The operator stuttered out before Shepard cut him off.

"The hell I don't, listen, I'm a Council Spectre, get your CO on the line, right now." The operator muttered something before a stronger, gravelly voice cut through the line.

"… off this bridge. Normandy, this is Admiral Olmos, 8th Fleet. You mind telling me how you found yourself in the middle of my operation?"

"Admiral, as I was telling your man, I am a Council Spectre tracking a threat to Galactic Security, I need to make it to the second planet of this system."

"That's going to be a problem, Commander. Most of the Geth Resistance is centered on that planet and I've got my task force spread thin as it is." The man sounded very tired, as if woken from bed and stuffed into his command chair against his will.

"If I might ask, what are _you_ doing here, Admiral. This system's a little out of the way for an Alliance fleet."

The Admiral chuckled grimly. "I suppose I can't say no to a Spectre. About six hours ago, Alliance Command received an anonymous tip that the Phantom Fleet had fled to the Terminus Systems and that they had been seen entering a long lost relay. Normally such a claim would be ignored, but the brass is getting mighty twitchy on the whole Kohoku affair. We were in the middle of setting up a search pattern when these Geth came pouring through the Relay in force. They don't have anything to do with your 'threat to Galactic Security', do they?"

"I'm afraid they might, Admiral." Shepard said. "Did any of them make it to the planet?"

"A few dropships made it down after those cruisers took up position in orbit, other than that they've seemed content to play with us in space."

"Okay." Shepard said, lost in thought. "Okay, here's the situation, Admiral. We have cause to believe a traitor working with these Geth is on this planet searching for a Prothean device called the Conduit. Him getting his hands on it would be very bad. I'll need some cover on the way in and the door held open on the way out, if it comes to that."

"I can do better than that, Commander. I won't go down as the man who let the first Human Spectre charge off into oblivion. I'll free up some assets, continue towards the planet, we'll keep the Geth off your ass."

"Thank you, Admiral." Shepard closed the loop. She gave Joker a reassuring pat on the back and motioned for me to follow her aftward. "I'm going to need to coordinate with whatever assets we're supposed to be working with. Go start up the Mako, I want as many of the team as you can fit, plus any marines you can squeeze in. I want to be ready to face anything Saren throws against us, got it?"

"I've got it." I said. My nervousness must have shown on my face, because Shepard shot me a final remark before I descended the stairs.

"Relax Liddle, It's time for some heroics."

* * *

><p>The cargo bay was awash with the sounds of shouted orders, clomping boots, and the scrape of moving gear. Kaidan and Ashley had the surviving Marines loosely organized into two short squads. The alien party members stood around the perimeter of the room, anxiously talking or seeing to their armour. Liara seemed determined to avoid my eye, so I instead moved beside Tali and Garrus, who were talking quietly.<p>

"Liddle." Garrus greeted me politely. His own suit of dark blue armour still held some of the scars it had earned on Virmire, but his rifle shone like new. He had obviously spent the night carefully calibrating each and every component. In contrast, Tali's suit was untouched, a fact that didn't seem to dispel the jitters she was obviously suffering from. "I was just telling our resident Quarian here how she needn't worry about all these Geth with all these big strong soldiers around."

"And I was just reminding everyone's favorite Turian that all these big strong soldiers couldn't stop Saren from carving a piece out of him." Garrus' right arm went to his side in an unconscious twinge.

"I'll survive." He said, relenting.

"Either way, the Commander wants you both loaded up on the Mako. It sounds like the Geth beat us to the planet."

"Oh sure, the seven of us that will fit in the Mako against an army of Geth. So, Liddle, do you want the two hundred on the left, or the two hundred on the right? I could go either way myself."

"That won't be necessary, Agent Vakarian." Shepard spoke from behind us. "Turns out we're in luck. A couple of old friends want to give us a hand." At that moment the ship-wide crackled. A familiar female voice calmly addressed the cruiser.

"This is Cleaver Flight to the _Normandy._ I heard you guys needed a lift."

* * *

><p>The great grey cargo ramp lowered, leaving little more than a mass effect field between the waiting marines and hard vacuum. Outside, the swirl of the space battle continued unabated. Occasionally there would be an explosion or a crackle of staticky cross-traffic on the comm. channels.<p>

…_moving to intercept our fighters, additional support needed…._

…_got one on my tail, Dax, see if…_

…_Frigates inbound, SSV Vienna to intercept…_

The view became obscured by the shape of the Alliance's boxy assault dropship Cleaver One. Its own combat ramp was lowered, offering a view to its empty interior.

"We're not going to have time to make a seal, so everyone check their environmental seals." Shepard barked. "I want two orderly lines, zero-g boarding procedures on my mark. Watch your heads people, Cleaver is gravity negative." She made a windmilling motion with her arm. "Mark." As one, the two columns began to run the length of the deck. Each made a small hop at the end and leapt into open space, gracefully sailing into the back of the dropship. When it was my turn, I nearly stumbled. The feeling of suddenly losing gravity was unpleasant, as was floating the short distance between ships. To make matters worse, the dropship was oriented floor up relative to the _Normandy_ a little surprise that almost carried me straight into the doors to the cockpit. Thankfully a marine caught me by the arm and maneuvered me right way up. I thanked the man, who looked even younger than I did, with a short mop of dark blonde hair framed by his helmet, and strapped myself into one of the couches. Next to me, Steiner took up a seat, while across from me Garrus sat down.

"Hey Liddle, looks like we'll only need to bag thirty apiece now, think you're up to it?"

"Was their ever a doubt?" I said, wishing my stomach was as brave as my mouth. It churned restlessly.

"Alright boys, strap in. This ride may get a little bumpy. You may notice that the emergency exits open into the cold black of space, so please refrain from using them unless absolutely necessary." The voice of the pilot came from atop a short ladder to the flight deck. The troop ramp retracted and folded closed in the back of the ship. "Next stop, Ilos."

The ship jetted off, apparently without inertial compensation. The troops around me were jostled as we began to run some gentle evasive maneuvers. I cradled my rifle to my chest and began running the battle to come through my head. My plan to bring the Alliance running looked like it had worked, although I would have preferred a Dreadnaught or two. Hoping for the capital ships had been an outside chance anyway. Catching Saren as he descended was a stroke of luck. If we could cut him off from the conduit, perhaps _Sovereign _would be caught knocking on a closed Citadel. The lone Reaper's chances didn't look good against the full force of the Citadel fleet, especially not with his Geth escorts tied up over Ilos. For the first time in what felt like ages, I felt a genuine smile curl my face.

Outside, the battle raged on, spread out across the system. Cruisers blasted at each other from extreme range while smaller ships flitted between conflict zones. Here and there, a ship would flash bright white as its core was breeched, or dull orange as its atmosphere went up. From the sporadic chatter, it sounded like the Alliance had the situation fairly well in hand, even if the attack had been a surprise. I found myself wishing I could have warned them, but I also realized that enough information to bring about an adequate response would sound crazy enough to be dismissed.

"Preparing for descent, secure all drop stations." The pilot called back. Commander Shepard walked the row of troops, yanking on our harnesses.

"Drop stations secured." I could almost hear the snare drums as the shuttle began to shake, buffeted by the leading edge of Ilos' wispy upper atmosphere.

"Navigation system tracking, where do you want us to put down, Commander?"

"Find the biggest concentration of Geth activity, that'll be where Saren is."

"I read you, searching now… Got them, right smack in the middle of that ruin, beginning my approach." The cabin rocked more violently. Somewhere down the line someone murmured a quiet prayer. Shepard continued to stand, swaying slightly with the motion of the ship.

"Rough air ahead, we're in for some chop." The pilot warned as the dropship gave an almighty lurch. Around us the hull crackled with ionization as the small ship surged through the cloud cover alongside its sisters. "Cleaver One to Cleaver Flight, follow me in on bearing 56 mark 18. Nice and fast. We don't want to give the flashies any more time to shoot at us than we have to."

Something rattled on the hull outside. The ship lurched again. Leaning forward I was able to peer out of the front window. Below us the grey-brown surface of Ilos unfolded like a painting splashed across a canvas. Bright lines jumped up to meet us from what had to be the Prothean ruins, a maze of metallic brown pillars that jutted up into the sky.

"These skies are becoming decidedly unfriendly, Commander. I'm going to put you down somewhere on the outskirts." The pilot pulled into a steep dive to avoid the incoming anti-air, spiraling down towards a clearing on the outer edge. The distinctive sizzle of GUARDIANs filled the air around us. Out of the window I saw the _Normandy _swoop overhead. Joker stood the nimble frigate on its end as he strafed the Geth positions. His antics distracted the synthetics long enough for the dropships to slide in below the line of the ruins.

"Go,go, go!" the order filled the cabin as the ramp dropped heavily. Marines sprang to action, unhitching their restraints and charging out onto the alien world. Before I left, I tossed a quick glance to the pilot.

"It's good to see you again, Corporal Ferro."

"It's good to see you too Deputy, now get. I've got other appointments to keep." I grinned as I left the ship. I felt ready.

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

So. since we are so near the end of the first sequence, I figured I'd mess around with the schedule some more. Expect an update on Tuesdays and Thursdays along with the usual Saturday update. Credit to this scene of course goes to Aliens, my all time favorite scifi movie.

NonSolus: I'm glad you like it. This is indeed a major point of diversion, although the general plot of this fic will still follow the general timeline of the games. Expect the changes to grow greater as Liddle further entrenches himself in the universe. Sadly, I wasn't quite sure what to do with Wrex, he's difficult to write without becoming a bland stereotype I found, plus he didn't seem like the type who would play nice with Liddle. Also, the trouble you had with the review system may have arisen from the fact you were using a guest account, anonymous reviews need to be approved by me. Hope that helps in the future.

-Liddle Out


	39. Chapter 39: Final Confrontation

Interloper: Chapter 39

After fifteen minutes on the ground, I was neither smiling, nor feeling particularly well prepared. Geth drones whirred overhead as Armatures stomped towards our line. Besides me the blonde marine was leaning far from cover, targeting a cluster of Geth troopers with a miniature grenade launcher. The Geth scattered as the grenades started to land among them, leaving two platforms broken on the ground. I snapped off a quick shot to keep them in cover and surveyed the battlefield. The Geth had met us just inside the ruins, in a field pockmarked with small, chest high stubs of the Prothean metal. I would have laughed at the 'convenience' of it if I wasn't busy trying very hard to avoid sharp bits of metal. More rounds drummed into my cover, scattering chips of the stuff into the air. It came down in a cloud. I used the temporary concealment to sneak up another few feet. To my left the Commander was making a fairly orderly advance, leading from the front in her slate-grey infiltrator armour. To my right the unit under the 109th's Lt. Gorman was stuck in with one of the tall Armatures. The ponderous thing marched straight at them, not even bothering with cover. Geth Swarmed about its feet. I picked one out from among the crowd and let loose a pair of shots. One flew wildly over its head while the next was shrugged aside by kinetic barriers. I dropped back down in the dirt to avoid another flurry.

"Right Flank, you are falling behind." Shepard said calmly. The Lieutenants reply was curt.

"This isn't exactly a picnic you've dragged us out to, Commander." The officer of the 109th shot back. While I couldn't argue with his assessment of the situation, his tone set my teeth on edge. "This armour's got us stuck hard."

"Let me get that for you, Lieutenant." A voice chirped on the comm. With a screech and a wave of buffeting wind, a pair of Trident strike fighters flew low over the field. Behind them trailed a series of detonations that threw stone and earth into the air as they delivered their payloads. The twin trails walked across the line of Geth, summiting the armature and bringing down its barriers.

"Blast that thing, give it all you've got!" came the order. Almost immediately a sheet of small arms fire rose up against the lumbering beast, intermixed with the occasional flash of a grenade. I readied my own Omni-tool, fabricating a magnetically suspended glob of thermite. I hazarded leaving cover to lob the sticky projectile at the Armature's armoured shell. The mass effect assisted throw launched the bomb through the air. I watched it follow a flat arc in Ilos' slightly heavy gravity until it splashed against the junction between the distant monster's neck and its shoulders. The thermite flared brightly as it melted its way into the superstructure. The rest of the battle caught up with me as a stray round caught me in the midsection. I hit the dirt and rolled, trying to avoid further hits. When none more came, I focused on trying to breathe again. I was getting close when someone dragged me up by the armpit and I found myself dashing forward. All across the field, the grey-blue clad marines were charging forward, filling the hole left by the rapidly wilting Armature. I allowed myself to be carried along as I took deep gulps of air. I set my suit to deliver a light painkiller and dropped into a new piece of cover. The guy that had me by the arm turned out to be Garrus.

"Come on Liddle, how are you going to make it to thirty if you keep getting distracted." The turian sounded a little out of breath, but his tone was friendly.

"You've got to admit though," I wheezed, "That tank was a pretty impressive kill."

"It still only counts as one." Garrus said. He bobbed his head other the fallen pillar we crouched behind and got a flurry of shots in return. "You got another one of those flashbangs?"

I readied the program and made to throw. I started the motion even as the bomb gained solidity in my hand. The disk shape tumbled up and over our cover and burst in a bright flash of light. We both hopped up and stripped a Geth of its shields. Garrus dropped it with a well-aimed shot to the flashlight like head. The downed Geth's fellows fired straight ahead, their optics temporarily frozen. I took the chance to drop another one with a lucky shot to the leg.

"Commander, sensors show an energy spike in the ruins, five klicks west of your position." Joker was talking. From the sound of his voice and the background chatter, he had found himself back in the heart of the battle.

"Can you clarify that?" Shepard asked, though she had already updated our HUD nav-pointer with the position of the energy spike. It was nestled in a much more intact portion of the maze. Garrus signaled, and we move rose into firing opposition. Finding nothing, we joined another fire team picking its way forward. Further off to the North, the sound of a heavy machine gun droned in short bursts. Explosions rang from ahead of us.

"Looks like some kind of beacon. Something big's going on down there."

"Could it be the Conduit?"

"You know as much as I do, Commander." Joker's words almost sounded like the shrug he was sure to be giving.

* * *

><p>The push into the deeper ruins was going better than could have been anticipated. The Geth resistance was falling apart as more and more of their larger platforms fell. There was a moment, when a room full of Primes had suddenly sprung to life, where it looked like we'd be cut to pieces in a cross fire. It would have ended that way had it not been for Wrex bringing the ceiling down on the greater part of the enemy force. Liara was not happy about the destruction of Prothean architecture.<p>

"Perhaps next time I'll let the Geth take you all." The old battlemaster rumbled.

"Enough." Shepard cut the conversation off with a gesture and a quickly shouted command. "Whatever this energy spike is, it's coming from behind that door." She looked pointedly at the heavily patterned, deep grey section of wall that sat heavily on some kind of runners. I recognized the hatch to the underground tunnels almost immediately.

"Those doors don't look like they're moving anytime soon, Commander." Kaidan noted. He was right, of course. In the game they had required a circuitous route all over the local ruins to unlock. The fact that the ruins still swarmed with Geth made the thought of tracking through them extremely unattractive.

"The LT's got a point; we don't have anything near the ordinance to bust through this thing." Ashley was the next to speak. "And don't think the 109th is going to be able to give us the several hours it'll take to chip away at it with what we've got. Several of us glanced behind us to where the 109th marines were playing backstop. The fighting had lulled for now, but they had already faced a renewed surge.

"Be that as it may, Chief, we're not the only asset in the field." Shepard gave us a smile and tilted her jaw up towards the sky. We followed her movements. A speck was rapidly growing in size as it cruised across the horizon. It looked to barely skim the tops of the ruins. Soon, the scream of overworked engines reached us. An alliance dropship, Ferro's Cleaver one by the markings, dropped neatly into the narrow clearing.

"Corporal Ferro, I'm going to need a doorbell as soon as my team clears the zone."

"Copy, Commander. I am armed and ready." One of the small ship's underslung missiles rotated into battery. We needed no further instructions. The team scattered, taking cover in whatever we could find. "Knock knock." The 'Doorbell' jetted out from beneath the dropship riding a wave of searing blue light. It seemed to fly in slow motion as it crossed the short distance between launcher and target. Instead of the expected almighty crash, the warhead seemed to flatten and mould to the door's shape. The was a series of bright flashes and the sound of a derailing train, or that of a distant yet frenetic thunderstorm and the doors were replaced by a gaping hole rimmed in molten red. "Happy to be of service Commander, returning to _Valley Forge_ for a refuel and rearming. I'll be back on station in twenty." We waved the ungainly craft off as it rose up and away. As the transport rapidly became a dot in the distance, we turned our collective eyes on the gaping mouth of the tunnel network. It wasn't empty.

A tall, grey figure walked out from the tunnel. It took me a second to recognize the figure as Saren. The once proud turian was now tall and gaunt, as if stretched beyond his natural size. Circuitry and reaper tech bristled from holes cut raggedly in his breast plate, and his face had an unhinged look to it. Literally as well as metaphorically, one of his mandibles stopped half way down his face. Shepard must have given him something to remember her by back on Virmire.

"Saren." She addressed the warped Spectre calmly. "Ready to give yourself up?" the turian chuckled cruelly.

"Give myself up? I think you're a little late for that. And far too late to hinder my plans any further. The Message has been sent."

"A message? To who?" Shepard had drawn a gun on the disgraced turian. Garrus and Tali took up positions on her left, keeping close. Wrex struck off by himself as if to swing round behind Saren. I stood next to Liara and in front of a pair of the _Normandy_'s marines.

"But time enough for a final confrontation," Saren seemed not to take note of her question. "I always knew it would come to this. After the minor setback on Virmire, I have only increased in power. It will be a simple matter to put you down before I ascend to my place of victory." Saren spoke with a voice tinged with a mad fervor.

"Have you looked at yourself lately? You look half destroyed. It's not too late to hand over the Conduit and put an end to this." Shepard entreated.

"Destroyed? No. I have been improved! After Virmire, I began to question my own actions, my own thoughts. _Sovereign_ swept all of that away. And now we stand on the Eve of the Reaper's return. They will improve us all, Shepard. A union of steel and flesh. It will be a new age."

"This is insane! Can't you see what he's done to you? Are you so blinded?"

"No, not blind. I am the only one sighted enough to see my place, our place in _Sovereign's _great plan. The Reapers would have just destroyed us, but I have convinced them we can still be useful, even equal."

"You call this equal? You are being controlled. You've let them scoop out your soul in return for what? The Reapers are using you, just like you're using the Geth. Don't let them control you. Give up the Con…" Shepard was cut off by a burst of static on the fleet channels.

"There's something coming through the Relay. My God, It's Huge!"

"What is that thing?"

"It's tearing straight through us!"

"_Sovereign has come._" The last voice came from Saren. The madness in his eyes caused them to burn with a bright blue light.

"You've brought him here?" Shepard asked. Her face was a mask, through a cracked one. Worry creased the skin of her forehead, and of the scar that rode on her cheek. "This is your last chance, Saren. If you let your master reach us you'll never escape, the time is now, resist his influence!"

"I… Can't." Saren said, suddenly struck uncertain. "This is the way." He tugged his pistol from his belt, raising it as if to gun us down. His eyes locked on me, and a thick buzzing filled the air. _Interloper_ he seemed to whisper.

"Shepard, look out!" I tried to move, but I was too slow. A gun went off, loud as a whip crack in the narrow passage. Saren fell dead.

"I'm sorry." Shepard lowered her own pistol.

"Commander, things are getting desperate up here." Joker called now. "Do whatever you're doing, and do it fast. The Admiral is talking about pulling out."

* * *

><p><em>The battle swirled above the planet. The stragglers of the Alliance task force made their stand in the upper atmosphere of brown Ilos. At their center, the now jagged prow of the SSV Lethbridge-Stewart stood proudly against the hand shaped form that descended upon it. Thin red fingers lanced deep into the carrier's hollow insides. What little guns the carrier mounted pounded weakly at the Reaper's barriers. Stout cruisers and rapid frigates added their fire, but it made little difference. As the alien dreadnaught dropped into the swirling upper clouds, red lights at its waist glowed with eldritch fire.<em>

* * *

><p>Shepard was headed towards the blasted open doors to the underworld. Her team accompanied her, but I hung back, leery of the still smoking corpse of Saren. The winds that drove the grey-brown clouds above us picked up ominously. I looked about and listened. Behind us, the sound of fighting had quieted. Whether that meant the marines had succeeded in driving off the Geth, or whether we were about to have company I didn't know. Whatever the situation, the outlook looked grim. The Conduit was at the end of a very long road, and without the Mako it was unlikely we would make it out before the form of <em>Sovereign<em> came down to blast us to atoms. I sat down on a stone to gaze up at the sky. I was almost unnaturally calm. I laid my rifle aside and watched the swirls in the ashy clouds. Shepard had already begun her descent, apparently not noticing my absence. I turned to eye the corpse of Saren. It was looking at me. I fell backwards as it lurched to its feet. It spoke in the voice of a Reaper.

**Interloper**.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" I asked in a quavering voice.

**It is what you are. You are not made of this Universe. You have no place here.**

"How do you know this? Do you know how I got here?" Questions I had been too busy to ask started rising in my brain. Ever since I had arrived, I had been so focused on fighting, talking, playing the game, I had just accepted it.

**We know of it because we know all things. Your mortal mind could not fathom the processes that brought you to this place. It is inconsequential. You shall die here to restore the balance and continue the cycle.**

"Your cycle's a sham. I know how this ends!" I cried out, unthinking.

**The cycle is eternal, unending. To state otherwise is an absurdity. We will end your insanity. **The possessed corpse lunged faster than my eye could track it. Its hands wrapped around my neck in an icy embrace. I tried to cry out, but it silenced me as my helmet bounced offof the stone. Acrid air splashed my face where it was now exposed. I tugged down, hoping for a space to draw a breath. I managed a half gulp before the powerful finger crushed down again. Half remembered odds and ends of training, experience, and mad ideas whirled around my head. I bowed low, wrapping my leg around Saren's and leaning into him with all my might. I was rewarded with a stumble, me going down on top of him in a clash of limbs. In free-fall I was able to tear a hand away, drawing another breath. The stars gone from my vision, I reached for my pistol, but the Saren-thing struck again, this time with a flat blow that split my lip and tore my cheek. The thing gained the upper hand and soon I was on my back fending off further blows. I got my hand around the things wrist and held it there for an instant. The corpse put all of its force into the captured arm to try and drive it towards the ground. I used the momentum to swing the thing around. I now clung to its back. I scrabbled for the pistol now; my fingers clasped its familiar grip. I drew it and felt it unfold in my hand. A blow to the back of the head was enough to send the corpse sprawling; enough to give me time to aim. I slammed a block of high explosive ammo home and took aim at the thing's face. I let loose, not stopping until the glow faded from jellied eyes, and what used to be Saren fell dead. Truly this time. In the sky above, the wailing horn of a Reaper sounded with an intensity sufficient to shake the ruins.

* * *

><p><em>The Reaper seemed to stall in mid-descent. Around it the surviving cruisers of the task force still fired their main guns, but even in the sudden stillness they were unable to put a dent it the tough hide. And then, as sudden as it had arrived, the Reaper turned as if to make an escape. In high orbit, the ruined carrier looked on.<em>

"_Sir!" a junior officer pulled at the blooded tunic of the wounded admiral. "Sir, we have to pull out. The dreadnaught is coming back this way!"_

"_No, it is no use. Take the helm, lieutenant. I want any available thrust turned towards putting us in the path of that monster."_

"_Aye sir." The stricken lieutenant saluted. He picked his way past fallen crew members and destroyed supports to the front of the bridge. His admiral followed him, pulling a torn peaked cap of an equally torn forehead. The junior officer took the controls, frantically trying to get the engines to fire. _

"_Wait, belay that order!" The admiral barked. His eyes were glued to the scopes. "Something is coming._

* * *

><p>I looked skyward again. The Reaper horn blared again, this time it sounded different. Somehow frightened. Then I saw it. The fingers reaching down from the clouds like the hands of a twisted god. The fingers were burning. One fell completely independent from the others. More shapes came out of the clouds, arrowheaded, or oval and winged. In their center was a familiar hollow cross. The Citadel fleet had come. <em>Sovereign<em> was dead. I fell backwards, legs suddenly weak, oblivious to the calls of my companions as they ran out of the tunnel mouth. _We had won this round._


	40. Epilogue

Epilogue

The Citadel wards were crowded with people. The crowds I had become used to over the long weeks of debriefings, awards ceremonies, and a short victory tour, the loneliness I had not. The crew had scattered after the death of _Sovereign_ on Ilos. Tali had returned to the Flotilla almost immediately upon setting foot on the Citadel with all of the data she had gathered on the Geth. Wrex had also left with a hefty payment and a look of determination. Garrus had stayed on longer, dodging C-Sec's pleas to rejoin them, but he eventually left too. The Alliance members of the crew stayed on longer. I spent the whole tour swapping stories with Kaidan and Ashley, but our victory lap soon came to an end. The lion's share of the credit had gone to the Citadel fleet, though the entirety of Admiral Olmos' task force had been awarded high honors by both the Alliance and the Citadel. At least the battle had roused a fair bit of pro-alien sentiment among the human colonies. Liara I missed most. She had stayed on Ilos when we left. We had all been their when Vigil had been unearthed. The blue-skinned scientist had almost fainted there and then. She was scheduled to give a presentation on her findings in a week.

And now it was my turn. I sat back on the bench in my civilian clothes. Shepard sat across from me in her dress blues, new medal proud on her chest.

"I'm sorry, Liddle, I did what I could. The only way would be to enlist, and even then I couldn't guarantee you a place on my ship." She gave me a half smile.

"Thanks anyway, I don't think the navy's really the place for me."

"If you ever reconsider, you know who to call." Shepard made to stand up, a motion which I mirrored. The Commander clasped my hand and shook it lightly before stepping back to offer me a salute. I returned it and smiled. "You're a good kid, Liddle, but the Council is leery of having an undocumented colonist running around one of their Spectre's ships."

"I understand, Commander. Doesn't make it any more fun to sit around here day after day."

"I hear you've decided to fix that little issue. Booked a ship to one of the colonies."

"Yes." I nodded. It had taken the sale of all my weapons and armour barring the chunky red pistol I still had clasped to my belt, but the ship to Cook's Landing was well appointed, and the planet pleasant enough.

"What will you do?" Shepard began to walk beside me as I made my way through the wards towards the docks.

"Oh, I don't know, find something to fill the days." I said knowingly. In truth, I had considered striking off on my own to try and prepare for the coming of the Reapers, or else striking out for Omega to try and find a place in Aria's organization, but I eventually dropped them as overly ambitious and overly dangerous respectively. "I thought I might try my hand at farming." We arrived at the spaceport just as the bulk transport began loading.

"Goodbye, Liddle."

"Goodbye, Shepard." The hatch slid closed, blocking my view of the platform. With a rumble of engines, the great ship took off for the stars.

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

Here it is, the end of the first sequence. I think it's fair to call this one complete. I'm glad I've been able to share this with you, and I hope you will continue to read this story as it continues in Interloper 2: The Collector Crisis. Before I close off this segment, I would like to give a brief shout out to a few of my readers. Firstly, Dracconnis, who has had many a kind word to say about this story every step of the way. And secondly, FollieofMadness, who inspired me to pick this project back up after it took an extended vacation. To you, and to all my reviewers, followers, and readers, thank you. See you next time.

-Liddle Out


End file.
